'Ridiculous' Llandudno fire station fire ladder removal plan

A council has criticised "ridiculous" plans to remove an aerial ladder appliances (ALP) from Llandudno fire station.

Conwy council's cabinet heard claims the rescue ladder was vital if there was an emergency in the many hotels in the town.

The North Wales Fire and Rescue Authority decided last week that three ALPs can cover north Wales.

A ladder was used during a fire at the Llandudno's Imperial Hotel in 2001.

In 2006, when similar plans were discussed, hoteliers in the town said any plans to remove the ladder would put lives at risk.

On Tuesday councillor Goronwy Edwards told the Conwy council cabinet meeting he thought the decision to remove the platform was "ridiculous".

"We have a significant number of hotels in Llandudno that need it, and nearby Colwyn Bay is the second largest town in North Wales with plenty of high buildings," he said.

Councillor Philip Evans added: "We have faced this situation previously, but there clearly seems a sustained effort to take the aerial ladder away from Llandudno. It's of considerable concern".

In a statement the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said an executive panel meeting of the North Wales Fire and Rescue Authority decided last week that three aerial ladder appliances (ALPs) could cover north Wales.

It said there are currently ALPs are Bangor, Llandudno, Rhyl and Wrexham.

The meeting decided that the ALPs at Bangor and Wrexham should be retained as they were positioned at the "geographical extremities of the service region".

Members then voted on whether the ALP at Rhyl or Llandudno should be retained - with the majority of members voting in favour of retaining the ALP at Rhyl.

This recommendation will be made to the full fire authority meeting on 19 March.

Conwy council will debate the issue at a meeting of its full authority on 23 February, and will write to the Auditor General for Wales to ask him to look into how the decision was arrived at.