A COASTAL park under threat of being destroyed in order to build a holiday village has been nominated for a UK-wide award.

According to the independent charity Fields in Trust, people have until August 18 to vote for Penrhos Coastal Park near Holyhead, Ynys Môn, as the best holiday park in the UK.

But this comes as Ynys Môn Council has granted planning permission to Land and Lakes, a company based in Cumbria, to build up to 500 chalets within the country park.

The plans include felling up to 27 acres of ancient woodland in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

With parts of the woodland dating to the beginning of the 1700s, it's full of rare species of plants, trees, and wildlife, including red squirrels, badgers, bats, foxes and insects.

North Wales Chronicle: An aerial view of Penrhos Coastal Park (Image: Achub Penrhos).An aerial view of Penrhos Coastal Park (Image: Achub Penrhos).

Hilary Paterson-Jones, leader of the campaign to protect Penrhos Coastal Park told our sister site Corgi Cymru that she would "tie herself to the tree" to stop Land and Lakes' plans.

More than 350 country parks are part of the competition being run by Fields in Trust. According to the charity, the parks with the highest number of votes in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England will be put onto a shortlist. At the end of August they will announce the winner of 'UK's Favourite Park 2022'.

Fields in Trust have protected green spaces across the UK for 90 years. The charity includes Fields in Trust Cymru which promotes and supports green spaces throughout the nation "by protecting them forever".

Since March the charity has been working with Wrexham Borough Council to protect 10 country parks.

The aim of this partnership is for Wrexham citizens to have a total of 37 local parks and greenspaces that are legally protected.

This would mean that it would be impossible to sell or build on these green areas.