A WYE marathon charity paddleboarder and former policewoman, whose business led a trip that ended in four people's deaths just days after her 100-mile fundraiser, has been charged with gross negligence manslaughter.

One of the victims in the 2021 Haverfordwest tragedy – ex-soldier Paul O'Dwyer, 42 – was a fellow paddler with Nerys Bethan Lloyd in the 24-hour Wye trip from Glasbury to Tintern, which passed through Ross and Monmouth and raised over £6,000 for charity.

The father-of-three was one of the instructors on the fatal Cleddau expedition seven days later, which included four other paddlers who survived.

Andrea Powell, 41, Morgan Rogers, 24, and Nicola Wheatley, 40, also died in the incident on the fast flowing river on October 30, 2021, when they got trapped under a weir.

Det Supt Cameron Ritchie of Dyfed-Powys Police said the charges against Lloyd – owner of Salty Dog, the company that ran the trip – were made following a "lengthy investigation".

"The families of those who died and those who survived the incident have all been informed.”

A Marine Accidents Investigation Board report ruled that the four were trapped by "hydraulic towback with no means of escape" at the weir.

Rosemary Ainslie, Head of the CPS Special Crime Division, said: 'We have authorised Dyfed-Powys Police to charge Nerys Lloyd, 39, with four counts of gross negligence manslaughter and one health and safety offence following the deaths of four paddleboarders in Haverfordwest in 2021.

"The charges relate to a commercial paddle boarding river tour on 30 October, 2021, where four of the group became trapped in Haverfordwest Town Weir and tragically lost their lives."

Chief inspector of marine accidents Andrew Moll said: "Stand-up paddleboarding is probably the fastest-growing UK water sport with participation in recent years growing by nearly 300 per cent.

"However, like all water sports, those that buy or rent a paddleboard need to understand the risks."

Inquests have been opened on Paul O'Dwyer of Port Talbot; Morgan Rogers, of Merthyr Tydfil; Nicola Wheatley, of Swansea; and Andrea Powell of Bridgend.

Lloyd, of Aberavon, who left the police three months after the incident and now works for a community charity, will appear at Haverfordwest Magistrates' Court on December 3.