Police force put to rest concerns that north Wales town has become accident ‘hotspot’

Richard Evans – Local democracy reporter

North Wales Police have put to rest concerns that Llandudno is becoming a “hotspot” for road traffic collisions.

The matter came up at a North Wales Police and Crime Panel meeting at Conwy County Council’s Coed Pella HQ.

The panel discussed a wide range of matters, including highways, when a member claimed there had been a spate of accidents in the seaside town.

Accidents

But police denied Llandudno was a “hotspot”, despite one member of the panel, Cllr Edgar Owen, maintaining there had been more accidents than expected.

“I’ve been reading about I don’t know how many cars crashing into each other in Llandudno, of all places,” said Cllr Owen.

“I don’t understand how that can be the case. Is it still 30mph (speed limit) in Llandudno? I don’t know. There is something in the paper almost every day.”

Collisions

He added: “A lot of people go to Llandudno from all over the north and from England.

“So I don’t know if there is anything that has changed in Llandudno recently that these accidents are occurring.”

North Wales Police’s Supt Simon Barrasford denied that Llandudno was an accident hotspot.

“Llandudno clearly has 20mph speed limits and some 30mph speed limits as well,” he said.

“Again, we look at more granular-level detail in terms of all those road traffic collisions, both internally but also at that multi-agency casualty reduction board, which both Gwynedd and Conwy local highway authority colleagues are at.

“So we do share any data with them in terms of any town which we think is a hotspot for collisions, but it is certainly not one that is at our forefront at the moment in terms of Llandudno being a hotspot for collisions.”

He added: “It may well be they were specific cases that brought the attention of the press.”

But Cllr Owen maintained he’d read about a lot of accidents in the town.

“This year there seems to be a lot more accidents within Llandudno itself, rather than the outskirts,” he said. “You know, you expect it on the A55 when it is open to have accidents on it.”