Saundersfoot beach bought by group of five

Saundersfoot beach hosts an annual New Year's Day swim

A popular tourist beach which was put up for sale last summer has been bought by a consortium of five people.

The freehold and trading rights of Saundersfoot beach in Pembrokeshire went on the market for £250,000 last summer.

However the previous owners have not been willing to reveal how much it eventually sold for.

Ownership of the two acre (0.8 hectare) plot gives them the right to sell ice creams and rent water sports equipment.

One of the new owners, Stevie Roach, said: "Our children have spent every single summer on that beach. It's just gorgeous and we wanted to preserve it."

Previous owners Adrian and Nicola Alford decided to sell the plot of land after 10 years because they wanted to pursue other interests.

Mrs Roach and her husband Dan, along with three others, have taken it on.

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Saundersfoot beach is part of Pembrokeshire Coast National Park

She said: "We'd heard about it and I said 'oh gosh, surely other people feel like us, can't we get a group of like-minded people together?'

"So Dan phoned up and knocked on people's doors and within moments there were five of us.

"I've been brought up round here, as has my husband and his brothers and the neighbours who've also come into the consortium."

The previous owners ran all the beach activities themselves - food vans, deckchair hire and water sport equipment - but these will now be run by individual businesses.

Mrs Roach said the consortium had no plans to make any major changes, adding: "It's a very vibrant community here, and people look after the beach, and that's what we really want to preserve and enhance."