Councillors have admitted that Chirk must do more to capitalise on the increase in tourism visiting the region.

With a lot of tourism brought to the region by the World Heritage Site, members of the council said spoke about how more should be done to bring the tourists into the village of Chirk.

It is estimated that 180 cruise ships come into Liverpool each year, bringing over tourists who take the bus down from Merseyside to visit Chirk Castle, before they get back on the bus and leave the area.

Councillor Frank Hemmings highlighted the issue at a recent meeting, saying more needs to be done to keep visitors in the area for longer.

He said: “We have a large amount of people coming to places within a mile of the town and we’re not able to get them to visit here.

“The majority of visitors head down to Trevor Basin and the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, so they don’t get to see the rest of the area.

“We need to get people to stop here and to also make people realise that there is more to the World Heritage Site than just the one aqueduct – we have the Chirk Aqueduct as well as a lot of tunnels like the Darkie along the 11-mile strip of the World Heritage Site.

“The site is here for everyone in its entirety, not just for us to enjoy. It’s for the world, we need to spread the word and make people realise this.”

Cllr Hemmings admits that one of the problems is the lack of infrastructure meaning the area has struggled to keep up with the influx in tourists.

Chairman of Chirk Town Council, Jackie Allen, agreed, adding: “We haven’t seen enough increase in the infrastructure of the village to accommodate the influx in tourism.

“We don’t have anymore public toilets, car parks, litter and dog foul bins and no gift shops.”

Members of the council have raised some of the issues to the World Heritage Site Management Committee and the Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.