St Asaph and Ruthin floods anniversary marked

The first anniversary of floods in which one person died and hundreds of homes and businesses were affected is being marked by events in Denbighshire.

Lights will be floated down the River Elwy in St Asaph which was hardest hit with over 400 properties flooded.

Residents in Ruthin will switch on lights in contrast to when the floods plunged their newly-built Glasdir estate into darkness.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said it was working to prevent future flooding.

'More resilient'

Margaret Hughes, 91, died during the flooding in St Asaph and many families were displaced for several months for flood repairs.

NRW has set up a new group involving the emergency services, water company officials and community groups as well as flood wardens to help provide advance warnings in future.

St Asaph mayor John Roberts said the Flood Partnership Group was an "important mechanism" providing the community with important updates.

Other communities affected by flooding included Denbigh, Corwen, Rhuddlan, Llanbedr Dyffryn Clwyd, Glyndyfrdwy, Gellifor and Llanynys.

Tim Jones from NRW said: "We understand that the events of last year will still be fresh in the minds of many of those affected and we want to reassure people that we are still working hard to make St Asaph, Ruthin and other valuable communities more resilient to flooding.

"We will never be able to prevent all flooding from happening, but we are committed to working with all the agencies involved to help support communities at risk of flooding and prepare and protect them as best we can."