Local Covid lockdown restrictions turn a Welsh holiday resort into a ghost town
Video report by ITV News Wales & West of England Correspondent Rupert Evelyn
Local Covid-19 lockdown restrictions in parts of Wales are creating ghost towns of what should be bustling tourist resorts.
Llandudno in north Wales relies heavily on tourism. But the town's usually busy promenade is currently empty after the Welsh government put local lockdown measures in place across Denbighshire, Flintshire, Conwy and Wrexham amid rising Covid cases. The restrictions are crushing many of those who live and work in the seaside resort; without visitors and their income, businesses that usually thrive are instead wondering if they will survive. Most hotels are shut; the Empire Hotel, a family run establishment for three generations, fears it may not survive the latest round of restrictions.
Manager Elyse Waddy tells ITV News she can hear voices and see faces of the guests and staff as she walks around the now empty building.
Karen O'Connor has had just one visitor in her shop on the day ITV News visit while the local Indian restaurant has seen its Saturday bookings plummet by over 100.
"We feel we have been targeted," Blue Elephant manager Shibber Ahmed said. The new restrictions mean that people are unable to enter or leave their areas without a ''reasonable excuse'', such as work or education and people can only meet others that they do not live with, outdoors.