NEW statistics released this week have underlined the importance of sport in Powys and further highlighted the damage of Powys County Council's drastically slashed sports budget

With Powys County Council reducing its sports budget by 40 per cent it has been revealed nearly half of the Welsh population display Vitamin D Deficiency symptoms.

More than half (57 per cent) of working adults spend less than 30 minutes outside in the fresh.

The main excuses for not going outside include the weather (66 per cent), illness (32 per cent) and lethargy (23 per cent), according to the independent poll commissioned by GO Outdoors.

Just under half (47 per cent) reported suffering from Vitamin D deficiency symptoms, including depression, fatigue, chronic pain and overall weakness (13%).

Despite over half (51%) of respondents worrying about not spending enough time outdoors, 39 per cent considered walking up to 30 minutes as too long while 46 per cent do not exercise when the NHS recommended amount is two types of physical activity each week.

Last week Powys County Council announced plans to slash the Sport Powys budget by £58,00 which will have a devastating impact on sports provision across the county.