Mum of drowned Wrexham teenager dies of cancer

Claire Saunders

A BRAVE mum whose son was killed after being swept out to sea by a huge wave has died.

Tributes were yesterday paid to Claire Saunders of Old Farm Road, Rhostyllen, Wrexham, who has died following a battle against cancer.

Tragically her son Jack Saunders, 18, was killed when he was knocked off his feet by a huge wave while on the Blackpool coast in October last year.

Desperate attempts were made to save him by two friends but he drowned.

Gwynedd council faces £47m spending cuts

Money

GWYNEDD Council is braced to make massive cuts in its spending over the next four years.

Senior officers last night warned the council may have to find as much as £47 million of savings between 2011 and 2015.

The Council Board yesterday heard the Government’s recent emergency budget could lead to reductions of 25% in most departmental budgets.

Cllr John R Jones, who leads the council’s financial strategy said: “Following the Chancellor’s recent budget, the extent of the financial challenge facing public services and the communities we serve is becoming clearer – and the situation is looking extremely bleak.

Ffion Wyn Roberts ‘had contact’ with police before she died

Ffion Wyn Roberts

CARE worker Ffion Wyn Roberts was in contact with police before she was found strangled, it emerged yesterday.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has confirmed it has carried out an investigation into the contact Ffion, 22, had before her alleged murder but has revealed no further details.

Following her death in April, senior police officers referred the matter to the IPCC but the type of contact or cause for contact has not been made public

Llangollen headteacher slams Wrexham council's school bus policy

School bus

A HEADTEACHER yesterday slammed a council’s decision to pass a controversial school transport policy, claiming it did not care about the pupils’ interests.

Speaking after a heated meeting at Wrexham Guildhall yesterday, Llangollen’s Ysgol Dinas Bran head Alison Duffy said she was horrified the council had passed a free transport-to-nearest school policy.

The Denbighshire school has historic links with Chirk, stretching back 100 years. But under the council policy the nearest school for parents, for free transport, would now be Ysgol Rhiwabon.

Red Arrows pilot to lead RAF daredevil team over parents' Colwyn Bay house

The Red Arrows

A RED Arrows pilot will be swooping over his home town en route to an air display.

The spectacular RAF aerobatics team will be the highlight of the second-ever Rhyl Airshow on August 7-8.

Flight Lieutenant Dave Davies is “Red 4” and he has planned a special route to the show taking the planes over Colwyn Bay – his parents, Wyn and Angela, still live in Llysfaen.

A former pupil of Ysgol Bryn Elian, Old Colwyn, Dave, 35, read mechanical engineering at the University of Manchester Science and Technology and funded his own flying training to achieve his dream of joining the RAF.