Welsh language: Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg's adverts

The number of places where over half the population speaks Welsh has fallen

A language pressure group has taken out adverts calling for policy changes after 2011 Census results showed declining use of Welsh.

Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg says people "want to live in Welsh" in adverts in the Western Mail, Daily Post and on the website Golwg 360.

The census showed a fall in the number of places where over half the population can speak Welsh.

It placed the adverts before a meeting with First Minister Carwyn Jones.

The group wants the Welsh government to implement its policies, which includes every child being fluent in Welsh.

Its chairman Robin Farrar said: "Our vision is a country where we can all live our lives in Welsh and securing strong Welsh language communities is the only way to realise that vision.

"What's needed is the political will to realise the ambition of people around the country."

There has been a fall in the number of places where over half the population can speak Welsh, the latest figures from the 2011 census show.

Overall drop

There are 157 council wards with more than 50% of residents who are Welsh speakers in 2011, compared to 192 in 2001.

Census figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in December showed an overall drop of 2% in the number of people who speak Welsh to 19% of the population in Wales.

It also suggested Welsh was now a minority language in two heartlands, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion.

A Welsh government spokesperson has previously said it needed to do more to "promote and facilitate" the language.