Trefnydd, I'd like to raise the plight of residents and businesses in the wider Brynmawr area who have been affected by the ongoing work on the Heads of the Valleys road. This has been a long-running saga for the local people because works have dragged on and on. What was promised to be a three-months closure of the slip road turned into 15 months. I'm pleased that, as of Monday, the slip road has now opened between 6 a.m and 8 p.m, but there's still work to do on this section of the road, which is down to one lane currently. It's been said by contractors, for what that's worth, that the section will be completed some time this autumn, which officially ends less than a week before Christmas.

Local residents and businesses have suffered long enough already. Many local traders are on the brink. Can the matter of business support be explored? I submitted written questions on the matter, but the answers that came back were not substantial. One local resident told me this week, 'We've been patient enough'. As the crucial Christmas period approaches, can resources also be directed to this section of the road, to ensure that works are completed ahead of the 20 December deadline, which, if it runs to that date, will be no good for the town centre, which has already suffered enough and is looking to recover in the run-up to Christmas? Diolch.