A Welsh Assembly Member for North Wales has criticised the Welsh government's lack of backing for an independent inquiry into the recent Kronospan fire.

Llyr Gruffydd, Plaid Cymru AM, was left disappointed after he raised the issue in the Senedd in Wednesday's questions to Lesley Griffiths, the minister for the environment.

Mr Gruffydd highlighted the frequency of the fires at the Chirk site and that more needed to be done to measure air quality.

He said: “In light of the recent fire at Kronospan in Chirk and the pollution resulting from that fire, the 17th in 18 years, are you satisfied with the level of monitoring carried out by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and Wrexham Council?

"Residents are mounting weekly protests as a result of this latest fire and I share their concerns that the bodies responsible for ensuring their safety are not providing reassurance given the plant’s record.

"Will you agree to hold an independent inquiry with community representation and to ensure there is permanent independent air-quality monitoring around the site to provide community reassurance?”

Mrs Griffiths stated that she was awaiting further information from Wrexham Council about the log-yard fire and would be meeting with NRW in the next couple of weeks and would seek assurances from them about the plant.

She added: “I don’t think there’s a need for an independent inquiry.”

Mr Gruffydd then counter-responded to state that 'residents deserve better than this casual dismissal by the minister'.

He added: "There have been numerous fires and safety incidents that deserve further investigation. She also side-stepped my call for permanent independent monitoring of the air quality around the site.

"It’s just not good enough to dismiss health concerns.”