dune

Norris sat on the dunes beside the seaside Zandvoort circuit, helmet on, with his head in his hands after climbing out of his stricken McLaren, as he digested the ramifications of his retirement.

The dunes are now said to not include enough special features.

The resort has prompted controversy in the past - five years ago the dunes at Menie lost their status as a nationally-important protected environment.

Earlier, two large groups of people already wearing orange life jackets had emerged from the nearby dunes and rushed towards the sea.

They say failed rocket launches have spread concrete and metal debris across thousands of feet of surrounding lands — and once set off a fire that burned several acres of protected dunes.