Brexit lorry park refusal disappoints Anglesey Show bosses

HM Revenue and Customs will need to check hundreds of lorries a day at Holyhead once Brexit transition is over

Organisers of the Anglesey Show said they were "very disappointed" plans for a post-Brexit customs site have been rejected by council leaders.

The island's agricultural society said the money raised by a deal with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) could have secured the future of the event.

But councillors cited traffic fears for refusing to amend the lease.

The land on Mona Industrial Estate is used as a park-and-ride facility for the nearby annual show.

HMRC was seeking to set up a customs facility to check and hold up to 100 lorries travelling to and from Ireland via the port of Holyhead after the end of the December transition period, the society said.

But council leaders said such a move would have an "unacceptable impact" on villages such as Gwalchmai and Rhostrehwfa, with lorries diverted off the A55 and onto the A5 which runs through both communities.

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A spokesman for the Anglesey Agricultural Society told the Local Democracy Reporting Service it was "in a difficult financial position in light of Covid-19, with no show and no events taking place on the showground".

"This agreement could have safeguarded the society and the show for the future," the spokesperson said.

They added the society had been "open and transparent" and would have welcomed negotiations with the council to agree on the terms and to work through issues such as traffic.

Anglesey executive member Bob Parry says the Mona site is "wholly inappropriate"

However, councillor Bob Parry, who represents Gwalchmai and is the executive member for highways, said alternative and "more appropriate" sites had been put forward by the authority.

He said replacing the park-and-ride facility would "defeat the purpose for which the lease was granted in the first place" as local residents would be "faced with hundreds of lorries every day".

HMRC said it was "reviewing a number of potential sites which are close to ports, and near strategic road networks, including options to support Holyhead".