Bear Grylls facing council planning probe over holiday island waterslide

He's found himself in a number of scrapes in the natural world, but Bear Grylls now faces the wrath of his local council over the new waterslide at his holiday island in Wales.

The TV survival expert tweeted a pic of the feature that he had installed at St Tudwal West, off Abersoch, Gwynedd. He wrote: "New slide attached at home on our island! You hit the water very fast!!!!"

The picture stirred up interest from the local council, who are reportedly concerned over its safety as well as whether he actually needed planning permission to install it, as the 2000ft long island is a designated area of outstanding natural beauty.

Bear Grylls/Twitter

According to the Independent, Wyn Williams, the local councillor in Abersoch, said: "I don't believe you should be allowed to erect a slide in an area of outstanding natural beauty such as St Tudwal's Island before going through correct procedures.

"As far as I'm aware, he uses it about two-to-four hours a day and it's used by the family itself. When the tide is in, that's not too bad. When the tide is out, there's quite a lot of rocks."

The BBC reports that he added: "I'm not sure if he needs planning permission but I think he should have notified the council."

Bear, who is also the UK's Chief Scout, bought the island in North Wales in 2001 for £95,000.

He, his wife Shara and their three sons, split their time between the island and their Dutch barge on the Thames near Battersea, reports the Express.

Related articles

Bear Grylls' TV producer suffers horrific injury after snake bite

Adventurer who 'tried to live like Bear Grylls' dies after one month