Date: 20th September 2004

Demi Moore's film upsets Welsh villagers


Demi Moore and the makers of her new movie, Half Light, have been accused of destroying a natural beauty spot.

Furious locals on the remote island of Ynyf Llanddwyn, off Anglesey in Wales, claim the film's cast and crew are breaking by-laws protecting heritage and wildlife during their shoot at the location.

The island is so isolated the the nearest capital city is across the Irish Sea in Dublin and only half its 750 residents speak English, the rest preferring their native Welsh.

Residents say the visitors from Hollywood have taken over and are riding roughshod over villagers.

As well as blotting the picturesque landscape with wooden sets, they have painted the lighthouse - the island's main tourist attraction - a garnish red.

They left a mother-and-baby group stranded by closing the community centre without warning for filming and caused an important meeting on the future of forestry in the ares to be axed.

The crew also bulldozed a 12th century wall to make way for parking space and have stationed their huge trailers and catering truck on a nature reserve where camping and eating is forbidden.

Resident Michael Webb said: "A lot of the villagers feel very hard done by because we had no warning at all that this was happening. The film people have made it clear that they have no intention of dealing with the likes of us and they intend to do what they please."

But the Countryside Council for Wales has assured angry locals the land will be restored when filming ends in October.

Source: Press Release