An ‘ill-judged’ attempt at an April Fool’s claiming that the recent dredging of Tenby harbour had caused damage to some of the moorings has been criticised by Pembrokeshire County Council.

A post on the ‘Visit Tenby Official’ webpage and on social media on Monday (April 1) stated as a ‘joke’ that: ‘As a result of the recent two weeks long removal of sand from Tenby harbour, there is a problem.’

The post went onto say: ‘The change in the sand bed and, specifically, the sand bar outside the harbour area has produced an unexpected tidal rip on incoming tides. And this rip has pulled out a number of the harbour’s moorings.’

It also went onto falsely quote a ‘spokesman for Pembrokeshire County Council’ stating that the ‘tractors and trailers will be back this morning to undo the damage’.

‘The spokesperson hoped that sufficient sand could be returned by the end of the week to stop further damage. The moorings will then be repaired, in time for the boats’ return to the water at the beginning of May’ it went onto say (also incorrectly as the boats return to the water this Monday).

After speaking with the person behind the post on Monday, a less than impressed harbourmaster in Tenby - Chris Salisbury confirmed that the post was an ill-judged attempt at an April Fool’s joke.

“The dredging operation at Tenby Harbour that involved the removal of 1,500 tonnes of sand, over five days, was a success,” confirmed a real spokesperson for Pembrokeshire County Council.

“It did not (as was incorrectly reported) produce an unexpected tidal rip and we can confirm that none of the harbour’s moorings have been pulled out.

“However, we can confirm that preparations are well under way to return boats to their moorings on Monday, April 8,” they added.

We understand that PCC have asked the person responsible to remove the authority’s ‘false quote’ from the post.

Members of Tenby town council also did not see the funny side of the alleged joke when it was raised at their meeting on Tuesday night.

Tenby Harbour Users Association and local councillors have been pushing in recent months for a dredging to take place as boats were struggling to get in and out of the harbour area due to a high build up of sandbanks.

The work was carried out under a Marine Licence issued by the Natural Resources Wales.