‘Lovelocks’ placed along a strip of seafront in Tenby - some in memory of loved ones, others to mark a special occasion or treasured visit to the resort have been removed due to collapsing concerns.

The council maintenance team in Tenby were concerned that the volume of the sentimental objects were weighing down the grill they were fixed to at a spot overlooking the South Beach - one of the resort’s most popular viewing points, looking out to Caldey and St. Catherine’s Island.

Some times seen as a modern ‘tradition’ whereby sweethearts inscribe their names or initials on a padlock, attach it to a public structure, and throw away the key, permanently sealing their love - the padlocks used to adorn the Pont des Arts footbridge in Paris as well as the Pont de l’Archevêché, until several years ago, following discussions as to whether the locks were an eyesore or detrimental to the integrity of the city’s architecture, and were subsequently cleared one night and are now routinely removed from various locations around the city.

The lovelocks in the French capital and other places around the world were seen to be a serious problem that threatened bridges and other important landmarks due to the accumulated weight of the locks.

Part of the Pont des Arts bridge was forced to be closed a few years ago when one of its metal grills collapsed, having been lugged down by the locks.

Comments on social media this week enquired as to where the ‘lovelocks’ - removed by council maintenance staff last month from The Esplanade in Tenby - had disappeared to, with some asking if there was anyway of getting them back?

Andrew Davies, clerk to Tenby town council said that it was a ‘tough call’ made by the maintenance team to remove them from the strip along the Esplanade, as he understands the sentiment behind them.

“The area maintenance boys asked me what I thought because a lot of them were getting rusty and unsightly and the volume of them were weighing down the grill they were fixed on,” he explained.

“It has actually fallen onto the bench and had to be cable tied back more than once!

“It was a tough call because I understand the sentiment behind them and taking them away has been talked about more than once - long before the number increased to what it was.

“It was a tough call but it had to be taken into account the possibility of them falling onto the legs of someone sitting on the bench alongside,” he added.

One Facebook user posted on the Tenby ‘lovelocks’: “I can understand people want to put them there in memory of a loved one, but they do look terrible, but that's my opinion, no offence to anyone. They are popping up everywhere I visit .”

Harry Gardiner of Tenby Civic Society also commented: “Quite a lot were rusting- not a good love symbol! Tis sad practicalities arise when a mass of individual actions can add up to a practical/visual problem.

“They need a place where this isn’t a problem; could become a treasured place of collective and individual memory.”