Scooter enthusiasts that descended upon Tenby in their droves for the recent Bank Holiday have been praised by local councillors.

The ‘Welsh National Scooter Rally’ weekend event organised by the Scooter Collective South Wales saw a huge turnout for Saturday afternoon’s ‘rideout’ from the seaside resort, which headed out to Cresswell Quay, whilst the De Valence Pavilion, Tenby Ex-Servicemans Club and Rugby Club all hosted live entertainment over the three nights.

Responding to correspondence from local resident Brian Kemp, complaining about the Scooter rally, at their meeting on Monday night, councillors said that you would not meet a ‘nicer, friendly group of people’.

“I am obliged, to ask the council to reconsider allowing access to the town centre for the hundreds of scooters that have plagued the town this holiday weekend, requiring non-scooter enthusiasts i.e. the vast majority of residents and visitors, to have to endure the noise and smell of these machines,” wrote Mr. Kemp.

“They have been allowed to park everywhere on the pavements with impunity, forcing mothers with wheel chairs onto the road and it seems to be impossible to appreciated everything that Tenby has to offer without having the experience marred by the very high noise levels and the highly objectionable fumes produced by these machines.

“Is it really worth encouraging these extra anti-social visitors at the cost of the enjoyment of the rest of us,” added Mr. Kemp.

Responding, Clr. Trevor Hallett commended the scooter rally, as it brought a lot of people into the town.

“It’s more of a friendship meeting than an event, and they’re welcome back at any time. They’re an asset to the town!” he said.

Deputy Mayor, Clr. Mrs. Christine Brown said she felt that the letter was a bit of a ‘bah, humbug’ response, and that the scooter rally helped with tourism, as it brought so many people into the town that weekend.

“It was a tremendous two days at the De Valence for us, and the organisers were on our level and it worked well.

“I’m sure everybody in Tenby and the surrounding area did good business that weekend. All in all it was an amazing weekend for everybody,” she told her colleagues.

“It was a fabulous, fabulous event, and I can’t agree to the ‘anti-social’ element of the letter - as a nicer group of people you will not meet, who are friendly and polite,” commented Clr. Laurence Blackhall, who also congratulated street care manager Marc Owen and his team of parking enforcement officers on this occasion, for making sure that those in town with their scooters parked appropriately, and were not heavy-handedly ticketed.

In addition to the letter, the town clerk, Andrew Davies said that he received one phone call of complaint, that there were no marshals present when the scooter ride travelled through the town centre.

Mr. Davies said that this particular complainant claimed that the police had received ‘numerous complaints’ too, but he said that he spoke to police inspectors and PCSOs after the rally, and they reported that there had been only one quibble from a member of the public over scooters parking on the pavement.

“Several publicans and businesses said it was good for Tenby and the majority of residents seemed to enjoy the rally,” were the thoughts that had been conveyed to Mr. Davies by the police, he told councillors.