Anger over common repairs delay

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A wildlife trust is angry that damage to a "fragile" common in the Brecon Beacons has not been repaired seven weeks after it happened.

The national park authority said last month that four-wheel drive vehicles had cut deep muddy trenches through an area known as Mynydd Myddfai.

It blamed people working for the National Grid, but said there had been a "commitment" to solve the problem.

National Grid said the repairs would be carried out "very shortly".

The company launched an investigation last month when the news of the damage emerged.

Brecknock Wildlife Trust (BWT) said it had been caused in mid-October.

The national park authority said people working on a natural gas pipeline which is crossing through the common were responsible.

'Careful management'

When finished the 115-mile (185km) pipeline, from Milford Haven to Gloucestershire, will carry 20% of the UK's gas.

Diane Morgan of BWT said: "I understand the national park, the Countryside Council for Wales and National Grid have held a site meeting at the common.

"But it's been about seven weeks since the damage was caused and nothing has been done to repair it.

"We are worried that other vehicles may make illegal use of the common and exacerbate the problem."

Last month Mrs Morgan said that contractors had been told that the thin soils in the area required "sensitive and careful management".

A spokesman for the park authority said: "There has been a commitment in the long-term to repair the damage, but when and how has not yet been decided."

The National Grid said it was finalising the "methods of reinstatement with a commitment to undertake the work very shortly".

Last month, it said that it was concerned that four-wheel drive vehicles had "contributed to (the) damage".