RESIDENTS along a road disintegrating near a river bank in the Higher Ceiriog Valley near Llanarmon DC have made an impassioned appeal for Wrexham Borough Council to mend it.

The road, between Llanarmon and Llandrillo, is home to farms and houses, but the single track surface has been eroded, with crudely-constructed barriers proving protection against the water.

One resident, who has spoken with their neighbours and wish to remain anonymous, says the problems with the state of the road are long term and want Wrexham council to carry out works to give them great safety.

And they said that the work is of vital importance of ahead of potential winter floods.

"The road, as far as we're concerned, is dangerous," they said.

"It's dangerous to all road users and it's caused huge problems, like people having their cars seriously damaged.

"We know someone who lost a week's work because of the damage to the vehicles and the repair bill was in the thousands.

"When we speak to neighbours, it's the same all the time, just mend the road – use any money you have to mend the road.

"It's the same with other work as gullies aren't being drained and drains aren't being opened.

"There's the three gullies that have to be cleaned but the work they said was done, compared to the state the gullies are in the community, isn't correct.

"The river banks are going to be an issue by the end of the winter – they've had all summer and no rain to this done.

"There's people wondering whether they should pay their Council Tax rates at all.

"If they all didn't do it then the point would be made.

"We know someone who lives further up that is a GP and she's had to work throughout Covid-19 driving around on these roads, and there's kids who need to get to school.

"We need these roads fixing asap – farmers are fixing these roads themselves with whatever material they have and that's not ideal."

Councillor Trevor Bates, who represents Ceiriog Valley, said he fully supported a call for the roads in Llanarnon to be upgraded as soon as possible, but also admitted he had sympathy for the council.

He added that if this was a South Wales issue, the work would have been completed sooner.

“The state of the roads in the Ceiriog Valley is a constant concern for me not only as a councillor but for what my family and neighbours have to endure by way of potholes on roads beyond patching," he said.

"Continual cuts to local authority funding has rendered the council unable to keep up with road maintenance as have most councils in the UK.

"The situation has been exasperated by the extreme weather and flood water.

"As a council, Wrexham awarded an extra £1m to repair potholes in 2020/2021 but repairs were delayed because of Covid and the underspend of £700k has been carried over to this financial year.

"The environment department has recently invested some of this money in new equipment and men have been working hard to address the backlog but obviously they have not yet reached Llanarmon DC.

"It feels like rural areas like the Ceiriog Valley are often the last to be addressed and I honestly think our roads, our internet and our Ambulance Response times would be far better if we lived in the South of Wales.

"I really do feel sorry for the Highways staff at Wrexham Council, I know how tight their budget is but my constituents really deserve better.

"I could not live where I do without a sturdy 4x4 to cope with the roads. In turn we are penalised by having to pay higher road tax for poorer roads.

"Come on Welsh Government you need to look after those that look after the countryside, soon they will all have moved away.”

Wrexham Council has been approached for comment.