Clwyd West Assembly Member Darren Millar has today called on the First Minister to take urgent action to improve the sea defences in Old Colwyn.

Speaking in the Senedd, Mr Millar, who has been calling for strengthening of the defences for years, told the First Minister, Mark Drakeford, that the storm the weekend of January 26 and 27, was a further reminder of how vulnerable and inadequate the defences in Old Colwyn are and called on him to make improving the defences one of his transport priorities in 2019.

He said: “One of the priorities that I think your Government should adopt is to protect the existing transport infrastructure.

"We had some very stormy weather over the weekend which further undermined the sea defences in Old Colwyn, in my constituency.

"The situation was dangerous with cars trying to drive along the promenade at serious risk of being washed into the sea.

"The Old Colwyn defences protect vital railway infrastructure and the A55 trunk road, both of which are vital to the North Wales economy.

“We've been warned time and time again by engineers that the defences are at risk of catastrophic failure at any time. We're living on borrowed time and I urge you to invest in the defences so we can see them upgraded before lives are lost.”

Mr Millar has also raised the matter with the environment minister, Lesley Griffiths AM, expressing his concern “that there has been little progress in addressing the need for significant improvements".

He has also sent the minister a video which was taken during the stormy weather at the weekend, to emphasise the need for action: https://twitter.com/IanLangITVWales/status/1089617589406449666.