COMMERCIAL visitors to a Purbeck beauty spot will need to abide by a new code of conduct following concerns about the activities of adventure sports groups.

The popularity of Dancing Ledge near Swanage with rock climbing and coasteering groups has been putting pressure on the area.

The National Trust, which owns the land, said in recent years up to 250 people at a time have been taking part in these activities.

It has worked with Langton Matravers Parish Council to come up with a solution to the problem.

Laurie Clark, general manager of the National Trust, said the code, to be introduced in March, will set a limit on the numbers of commercial visitors allowed, as well as issue guidelines on parking and environmental protection.

“The problems included greater erosion of footpaths and access problems, which meant people were not enjoying their visits as much,” she explained.

“We have had too many vehicles filling the small car park and causing congestion for local residents. But equally importantly, we were concerned about the adverse effects on nature conservation should unrestricted growth be allowed to continue.”

Since May last year licences have been issued for activities run by commercial operators using National Trust places.

A cap on the numbers using Dancing Ledge for adventure sports at one time has been set to 96 – beforehand, 200 were using the site at peak times.

Laurie added: “The money from licences is used to cover the administration of the scheme and to support conservation in Purbeck and protect important wildlife.”

Dancing Ledge is the most important site in the UK for the early spider orchid and the only known site for the sawfly orchid. It is also home to the South Coast’s most easterly puffin colony and is an important habitat for rare butterflies including the Lulworth skipper, which makes its home exclusively on the coastal strip and is limited to a small area of the South Coast.

“We also fund the monitoring of breeding sea bird numbers, which have shown an overall decline in south Purbeck over the last 10 years while activities such as climbing and coasteering have increased,” Laurie said.

“We don’t know yet if the decline in sea birds is linked to these increased activities, and we are waiting for further research.

“However, since the introduction of licensing for activities last year, numbers of guillemots and razor bills have shown an encouraging increase.”