A council leader said he is “looking closely” at Covid statistics in his county after speaking with his counterpart in Caerphilly.

The South Wales county was subjected to a lockdown by Welsh Government, after Covid-19 infection rates hit 55.4 cases per 100,000 population .

Conwy county council leader Sam Rowlands revealed during Tuesday’s cabinet meeting he had spoken to Cllr Philippa Marsden, his counterpart at Caerphilly county borough council.

Cllr Rowlands was speaking to the cabinet about schools reopening in Conwy county and thanked staff and parents for “having faith” in the authority’s ability to reopen schools safely.

However he said there had been cases of Covid-19 among students elsewhere.

He said: “We here in Conwy are looking closely at the data and the number of Covid-19 cases.

“We are working with Public Health Wales and we are hoping Welsh Government are working with us.

“We are keen to avoid a lockdown but if we need to for the safety of our communities, that’s something we would have to look at.

“Our support is with Caerphilly at the moment. I have spoken with the leader of Caerphilly and sent our best wishes that things improve as soon as possible.”

Welsh Government said no one in Caerphilly will be able to leave or enter the borough without good reason, as part of the new restrictions.

Face masks will be required for everyone aged over 11 years old in shops within the area – and people will not be able to meet indoors with others in their extended household, or make overnight stays.

Chief executive Iwan Davies said Conwy council was keeping a “very close eye on the data”, with regard to Covid-19 transmission in the county.

In the last 30 days only 25 positive cases had been recorded in the county, equating to 21.3 cases per 100,000 population, according to public health Wales.

So far 101 people have died of Covid-19 in Conwy county since the pandemic was declared.