Residents of a village that was cut off after a landslip earlier this year have told their local MP how frustrated they are at the lack of progress on the issue.

Catherine Fookes MP recently visited Llantony to meet with residents, business owners and farmers to learn more about how recent events have damaged the local community.

A landslip has made the only road into the village from the south impassable, meaning Ms Fookes travelled to Llantony via the highest mountain pass in South Wales. The enforced detour means a round trip of roughly four hours to the nearby towns of Abergavenny and Monmouth.

“It was really important for me to visit Llanthony and meet with residents and hear about the impact the road closure is having,” Ms Fookes said.

“This latest road closure comes on the back of a two year road closure in the other direction, so tourism businesses were just starting to feel relieved that visitors could come in and out of the valley two ways, and now this latest landslip has made things much worse again.”

As part of the meeting, residents shared how getting children to school, being able to feed livestock and welcoming tourists to the area has become a near-impossible task every day.

The incident occurred on January 30th, meaning the residents of Llantony have been effectively cut off for almost two months.

There have also been two emergency incidents in the village since the enforced road closure. In at least one of those incidents, the barriers were removed by locals to enable access for an ambulance.

There has also been difficulties for more vulnerable residents accessing food deliveries and homes reliant on heating oil continue to face a further logistical nightmare as well as soaring prices.

Monmouthshire Council now needs to purchase land adjacent to the existing road in order to carry out the necessary repairs to the road, but ongoing negotiations have delayed the process to bring quick access to the road.

“I know that Monmouthshire County Council are working as quickly as possible to purchase the land needed for the road repair, but progress is currently being held up due to ongoing negotiations with the landowner,” Ms Fookes continued.

“It’s important that this process is resolved as quickly as possible so repairs can begin and normal access can be restored for residents."

I left the meeting with several actions for my team and I to follow up on, to help provide clarity for residents about what happens next and to see what support may be available for affected businesses but the number one priority is pursuing the land purchase at a fair price.”

“I will make sure to keep everyone updated.”