A DISABLED rights campaigner has told how he became embroiled in an argument with Ceredigion County Council officials who prevented him from driving his wheelchair onto an Aberaeron beach.

Magnus Moore, of Llanon, was prevented from getting onto North Beach by a locked gate above a ramp and claimed that when he offered to remove it he was warned he would be committing criminal damage.

A frustrated Mr Moore said: “I was told the ramp was not a right of way, but a maintenance access ramp.

“I told this guy from Ceredigion County Council that, as a touristy area with a caravan park on one side and a beach on the other, I would have expected the local authority to be encouraging the public to access the beach.

“When I asked him to open the gate he replied that ‘it’s not in my budget’. I then offered to remove it myself only to be told I’d be committing criminal damage.

“This guy was so last century – he kept saying the angle of the ramp wasn’t designed for wheelchairs and what would happen if I got stuck on the beach and so on."

A Ceredigion County Council spokesperson said: “A site meeting did recently take place between officers from Ceredigion County Council and Mr Moore.

"The issues discussed are subject to ongoing consideration.”

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