The main road between Mardy and Triley has disintegrated into a 'switchback' - dangerous for cyclists and potentially damaging to vehicles, according to local community council chairman John Fitzgerald.

Llantilio Pertholey community council wants to see the road resurfaced as a matter of urgency and is also pressing for the introduction of a weight restriction for heavy goods vehicles on the road.

Both issues will be raised at a public meeting on August 8 at 7pm at Mardy Community Hall which will be attended by community and local county councillors.

Also up for discussion will be the proposed residential development of 250-300 houses at Deri Farm and the new rules on recycling.

"We've complained about the state of Hereford Road - from the turning to St Teilo's Church up to the bend at Triley - to County Councillor Ralph Chapman and he has been told by MCC that it is scheduled for resurfacing this autumn," said Councillor Fitzgerald (pictured below).

"Basically the surface dressing - which was put down to extend the life of the road - has come apart and the road is rutted and in a dreadful state.

"I was talking to a motorcyclist the other day who said he had got his front wheel stuck in a tramline and been steering towards the grass verge. He was very lucky not to crash."

Local resident Derek Meadows of Poplars Road agreed.

"The whole stretch needs re-laying. It's full of potholes. It really jars you when you're driving a car and I certainly wouldn't want to ride a bicycle or motorbike along there!"

Councillor Fitzgerald says the problem is aggravated by heavy good vehicles, particularly timber-laden lorries en route from the Brecon area to Pontrilas sawmill.

Former chairman of the community council Phil Jones said, "The road's been in an appalling condition for some years now. There was a problem with blocked drains and gutters, with water running off the fields in winter freezing and thawing, freezing and thawing and damaging the road surface as a result.

'We were told four years ago that it was in MCC's plan for the following year!

"The whole road from the town centre through the Mardy and beyond is badly rutted and potholed and extremely dangerous. "Cyclists and motorcyclists all complain bitterly about it - although some money was spent filling in the worst potholes prior to the Abergavenny Cycling Festival.

"The situation is being made worse by the number of HGVs using that stretch of road.

"We tried to get a weight restriction about 20 years ago, without success.

"We recently carried out a traffic monitoring exercise there, logging the flow of traffic through the village over a week, to highlight the problem.

"The worst offenders are timber lorries coming down from Brecon into the town.

"They can't turn right at the traffic lights on Hereford Road because they can't negotiate the bend by The Angel Hotel - so they're turning left and taking a short cut through the Mardy instead.

"There's no reason why they can't get onto to the Head of Valleys road and access the by-pass at the Hardwick Roundabout."

He added, "The public meeting on August 8 is a first for the community council.

"We have decided in the past 12-18 months to raise the profile of community councillors and the work they do and we hope to get a good turnout."

* A spokesman for MCC says the Triley-Mardy road is scheduled for resurfacing at the end of November/beginning of December this year.