A ROW has erupted after youngsters drove cars onto the lawn of a National Trust property.

The latest incident followed the discovery of a pile of pizza boxes, beer cans and bottles left on the croquet lawn of the Kymin Round House, in Monmouth, by a party of about 12 teenagers.

Those who drove their cars onto the hilltop beauty spot have defended their actions, saying they didn’t cause any damage and were parked up with the engine running and only taking a photo.

But some residents have slammed the use of the site as what they call a "racetrack", labelling it "disgraceful" and calling for the matter to be reported to police as "anti-social behaviour".

One man, who reported finding and clearing up the remains of the pizza party the week before, says the bigger issue is that without onsite wardens, residents now fear the Kymin "will become a no-go zone, a place of needles and wild campers’ debris and ad hoc toilets".

He said a local woman resident had spotted two cars "having a smokey time tearing around the Round House" and had "duly sent them on their way" despite receiving "a bit of lip".

He added: "It’s pretty obvious that it’s inappropriate to proceed beyond the car park and drive around the Round House and particularly when there are visitors enjoying the sunset!"

The spat on Monmouth New Businesses Facebook page, which has since been taken down, saw the drivers respond, one saying: "We don’t race up there or make noise.

"Really gets on my rag how everything has to get reported on here, something as simple as an engine running whilst we’re taking pictures.

"I don’t like being reported for absolutely no reason."

But the resident replied: "Trust me, nobody else does what you did, because they know to do the right thing.

"Then enjoy the sunset by parking up and walking the last 50 metres."

One woman told the motorists: "How about next time you’d like to take a photo of yourself in a beautiful place get out of your car in the car park, use your legs to walk to the beautiful place and then walk back to your car.

"No one here has an issue with the photographing, but driving across the green is no more acceptable than my driving across your front lawn just because I fancy it.

"It’s just a matter of respect. I get that you love the view, we all do. Let’s keep it a nice peaceful place for everyone please."

Another poster pointed out that a young man’s ashes had been spread at the Kymin.

"It’s not only a peaceful place but to most people a memorable place. only a photo that’s fine but I wouldn’t really want to be driving over people’s memories just to (take a) photograph."

One woman said: "The National Trust were really close to shutting the whole area to visitors last year. Please don’t give them the excuse to do it.

And another asked: "Would this have happened if the Round House was still occupied, I wonder?"

One poster urged: "Please log the incident (with the police) on 101. It can take a while for anti-social driving to get brought to book so it’s worth logging it each and every time."

"Churning up the grass for a laugh isn’t fair for other people," said a woman, though one of the drivers replied: "We didn’t churn up any grass, made sure of it. It was all dry."

One person who came to the drivers’ defence, said: "Leave the kids alone! They aren’t stealing, doing drugs, drinking, mugging, breaking and entering or anything else!

"They’re just being youngsters in cars like we all were once - except the cars are better these days!"

But the resident who first reported the incident said: "There is a far deeper matter at stake here, so let’s look beyond pizza boxes one day and a couple of cars on another.

"The Kymin is now completely unprotected, and effectively has been dumped upon the townspeople of Monmouth to care for.

"Effectively, the townspeople of Monmouth are now the custodians of the Kymin. Anyone who can assist with this is an asset. Without it, the Kymin will become a no-go zone, a place of needles and wild campers’ debris and ad hoc toilets.

"With this fear, some of us do feel it appropriate to jump on inappropriate behaviour before it becomes the norm - supposing nobody did anything and cars around the Round House became the norm, would this be preferable?"