CLAIMS by windfarm operators that the construction of a sub-station has merely created light traffic have proved to be a load of hot air, according to Betws community councillors.

In a series of terse exchanges, Celtic Energy Renewables who are building the controversial Mynydd-y- Betws windfarm maintained only six 18-tonne lorries had used Maesquarre Road for deliveries one morning.

But this claim was angrily contradicted by Cllr Cath Jones who insisted she had counted eight trucks by 8.30am that morning.

“Either you are lying or someone else is lying to you,”

she told CER representatives Rob Fellowes and Noel Gallaher. “They were not the only ones, because another truck passed me and almost took the front of my car off.

“That road is dangerous at the best of times. When you have that volume of heavy lorries, you are asking for trouble.”

Mr Fellowes protested: “We have not come here to lie, we have come here to relay the information that has come from the contractors.”

The clash was sparked after Mr Gallaher said four to five trucks a day had been delivering stone for the construction of the sub-station.

“But on that particular morning, when there had not been any deliveries the previous day, six trucks were sent from the quarry early in the morning – it was an aberration,”

he added.

Alderman Arnallt James also expressed annoyance at the volume of traffic. “There are seven nasty bends on that road from the bottom of the mountain,” he said. “Let’s hope this volume of traffic does not happen again.”

Pressed by Cllr Jones, Mr Gallaher said safety measures would be implemented in the event of low cloud on the mountain.

“We are looking at the issue of signage – if it’s a misty day, you cannot endanger people,”

he told her.

Mr Gallaher added that the substation would take around six months to build and future deliveries would be “infrequent”.