Man cuts listed rocks for sea view

A MAN living in Brittany cut a hole in coastal rocks to give himself a sea view.

The famous rocks in the town of Locquirec consist of rare 'orthogneiss' and are estimated to be two-billion-years-old.

Between last Thursday and Saturday, people in the port could hear the sound of a pneumatic drill, reported Ouest-France. At the weekend, walkers then found that the man had illegally drilled a huge hole in the top of one of the rocks.

Last year, the paper said, the man had been caught trying to destroy the rocks by Dour Ha Douar, the association for the protection of the local environment, who alerted the authorities.

In September he had been given planning permission by the mairie for some work on his property, on the condition that the rocks were left intact. On Monday the council suspended the permission and filed a complaint with the public prosecutor.

Members of Dour Ha Douar had organised a coastal tour to show the rocks to a group of about 30 people during the journées du Patrimoine at the weekend. On Sunday they placed a plaque on the rocks that read Ici, destruction de patrimoine, here, heritage has been destroyed.

The few examples of this type of rock left in France are all in Brittany, in Trébeurden in the Côtes-d'Armor, and on the Finistère coastline. They are protected and used for research.

View of beach at Locquirec. Photo: Antoine Brunet