COLWYN Bay's 50th anniversary bonfire night event has been cancelled.

Following news that the Llandudno event would take place this year, The Bay of Colwyn Town Council has followed suit with their bonfire and fireworks event, which was due to be held in Eirias Park on November 5.

The event was set to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first community bonfire event in the park, held on November 5 1970.

The Town Mayor, Cllr Neil Bastow, commented “We are aware that many local families, who attend this event every year, will be disappointed, but assure you that this decision has not been taken lightly.

"We have a duty to consider the safety of the public when putting on events such as this and we did not feel able to go ahead without a safety plan that not only complies with government regulations, but also guarantees we would have adequate and appropriate security and safety measures in place.”

The event sub-committee, which includes representatives from a number of key partners, including Conwy County Borough Council officers, North Wales Police, the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, Get Set Go Events and town councillors met last month to discuss whether a safe event could take place.

The attendance at the event for the past few years has been approximately 7,500 and group gatherings of this size are not currently permitted.

To ensure safe social distancing of 2 meters between family groups, mitigate against the spread of coronavirus and adhere to the Welsh government programme of Test, Trace and Protect, the event would require a booking and ticketing system, which would not only reduce capacity, but significantly increase the costs of holding the event.

Moving the event to a different location on the beach was also considered, but this would also have incurred additional costs.

The more exposed site at the beach would have resulted in a much higher risk of cancellation at late notice, due to either bad weather, or the risk of smoke from the fireworks affecting the A55.

The organising committee hopes to be back in 2021 with a bigger and better event to properly mark the anniversary in an appropriate manner.