03/05/2016 BBC Wales Today

Climate activists halt work at the UK's largest opencast coal

mine at Ffos y Fran in Merthyr Tydfil.

There are now two confirmed bidders interested in buying Tata steel.

Hundreds of climate activists are holding a protest at the UK's

largest opencast coal mine in Merthyr Tydfil.

Work at the Ffos-y-Fran site has been halted and police are present.

The campaigners are calling for more renewable power and green jobs.

One small group has chained themselves to heavy machinery.

Our environment correspondent Steffan Messenger reports.

As the sun rose over their makeshift camp at Ffos y Fran mine these

climate campaigners set off for what they called

A smaller group had gone ahead, engine

the site and chaining themselves to heavy machinery.

Usually, the mine behind me would be a hive of

activity, with trucks and JCB is going about their work.

As you can see, today, for a few hours at least,

Protesters have halted operations here are Ffos y

The main entrance was also closed off by demonstrations.

It's all in response to plans by the owners

for another opencast site in

We grew up here, this environment is irreplaceable.

If we continue to burn coal that crosses a red line for the climate.

We need to keep coal in the ground if we are to avoid catastrophic

The future of energy doesn't lie with coal, that lies in

green, renewable technology and the jobs that come with it.

Ffos y Fran is the UK's largest opencast mine,

the size of some 400 football pitches.

Its managing director told me it supports jobs in the local

community as well as the steel industry in South Wales.

Mining coal locally means it doesn't have to be

imported from other far-flung destinations, reducing its carbon

The project is also one of land reclamation, returning the

landscape back to open moorland as coal is extracted.

Coal is part and parcel of giving affordable anxious

We want a balanced debate between climate change policies,

which, you know, we all recognise are important, but affordable

generation and supporting our own industries.

Those protesting are urging politicians to call time on

coal, timing their protest so that it falls days before local and

Miller Argent say they support jobs and the local community, they

support the wider steel industry, a lot of people

will lose they work if

Well, the thing is that there is a massive opportunity

If we look towards a renewable energy future, improving

There are huge amounts of sustainable

We could employ those people and use those

Tonight the protesters pack their bags after a

long weekend in the company of the giant coalmine, the thorny issue

about whether opencast sites like this have a future in the UK will be

Two brothers who worked as teachers in Gwynedd have been charged

with possessing and making indecent images of children.

Robyn Wheldon-Williams was a teacher at Ysgol Syr Hugh Owen secondary

His brother, Dyfan, was a teacher at Ysgol Y Moelwyn

The charges do not relate to their work for the local authority.

Both were have been bailed to appear at Caernarfon Magistrates Court.

A body has been found in the Menai Straits at Treborth.

Police were alerted by a member of the public last night

and the body was recovered by the coastguard.

The person has not yet been identified and police

Two business groups who want to buy TATA steel's UK plants have formally

entered the sale by submitting Letters of Intent.

One is Liberty House, the commodity group which owns

a former steelworks in Newport as well as Uskmouth Power station.

The other interested party is a management buyout

team called Excalibur, which includes the billionaire

The hot strip mill here at Port Talbot has just

3.2 million tonnes of steel in the last year.

Tata UK's operation supplies 50% of the metal for

From BMW and Honda to Tata's own brands of Jaguar and LandRover.

Workers here are proud of what they do, and hope

their quality and commitment will help them find a buyer for this

currently loss-making iron and steel business.

Blast Furnace number four here at Port Talbot is one

But how many buyers will be prepared to

Today, the Liberty group expressed its official interest

in buying Tata Steel's remaining UK assets.

However, they've always talked about steelmaking from scrap

steel and not utilising these blast furnaces.

Another letter of interest has also come in from a management employee

They say they're confident they can make it profitable.

Staff here say whoever buys the plant, they'd be getting

They would be buying a fantastic asset.

They are buying, obviously, the people as

well, who are skilled and proud to work here.

But they are buying assets operating at the top of their

At the centre of this 13.5 kilometre site,

are the remains of 13th century Cistercian monastery.

Legend has it, if the wall tumbles, it will bring a curse

Hoping to help keep this plant propped up, First Minister Carwyn

Jones was at Port Talbot today promising workers he wouldn't stop

But, on the frontline, those workers remain apprehensive

Workers like Alan Hooper who's been working in the steel industry

And I daresay his father worked here as well, probably.

For it to close would be probably devastating.

Tata Steel has not set a deadline, but says it cannot

sustain its losses indefinitely and does not want to prolong uncertainty

The government has promised to support any buyer by

taking up to a 25% stake in a new business

millions of pounds of finance available.

More cases of hepatitis A have been confirmed at a school in Caerphilly.

There are now six confirmed cases associated with

Glyn-Gaer Primary School in Gelligaer, plus two

Public Health Wales said, 270 pupils and adults at the school

have been vaccinated as a precaution and letters have been sent home

A couple from the Vale of Glamorgan who were attacked while on holiday

in Thailand have described the assault to a Thai court.

Rosemary and Lewis Owen from Wenvoe were hospitalised

Six men have been charged with grievous assault.

The couple, who are flying home today,won't have to return

20 years ago, Llandudno's Pier Pavilion burnt to the ground,

two decades on could its site finally be redeveloped?

The sea front pavilion once provided a stage for everyone from singing

Previous plans for the site stalled, now a new developer has stepped

You can imagine the advertising blurb now.

You may think how this plot has remained an eyesore for so long.

As the battles continue, thick smoke filled the night air.

This was how Wales Today reported the fire that destroyed

No one who saw the blaze will ever forget it.

Within minutes, the building was engulfed.

With flames shooting 100 feet into the air, guests

and staff were evacuated from the adjacent Grand Hotel.

The heat was so intense, cars parked nearby burst into flames.

A Victorian gem reduced to nothing more than tangled ironwork.

But then you have got to take into consideration the sensitivity

This man, Alan Waldron, has bought it and is in the process of putting

In Llandudno, there have been some good investment and good players,

so the hotel side of it we have left alone.

What we're looking at here, because it is a hole in the ground,

we are looking at parking, commercial and some residential.

That's why I said you've got to look at finances.

To be fair to the local authority, they know this is the reason

They are talking around ?15 million and hope

The pier Pavilion, where Conservative leaders have been

Amongst other things it hosted political party conferences.

In the 50s, the Prime Minister Winston Churchill spoke there.

At the time, of the fire, the building was already in decline.

Many in Llandudno remember the old place.

Visitors will tell you the state of it now let the resort down.

It's a disgrace, because it is so nice around here.

Ceri Stonehouse recalls meeting the singer Tommy Steele there.

You can't get anything more beautiful than this.

Previous ideas involve putting a hotel here.

It is also an extremely difficult site to develop.

They jealously guard the look of the place.

Whatever the developer comes up with will be subject

Cricket, and in Canterbury Glamorgan reached a total of 414 in the second

innings of their County Championship Match.

David Lloyd and Graham Wagg each scored a century.

Tomorrow, on the final day of play, Kent will need a further 165 runs.

Lovely weather for watching cricket, and the sunshine goes on Derek ?

Yes, it's looking promising for the next few days. More sunshine and

becoming warmer as well. Temperatures rising above average

over the next few days. In fact, some places could end up warmer than

parts of Spain over the weekend. 21 services, 17 Fahrenheit. Tonight a

dry story, fairly clear skies with temperatures falling away. A chilly

end to the mouse, cold enough for ground frost in the rural spots of

the countryside. Tomorrow shows a cold front approaching island,

through the East high pressure keeps things dry and settled. A nice

looking morning tomorrow. Breezy on the clean peninsula but dry and

bright with plenty of sunshine. Across the rest of the UK, Scotland

and Northern Ireland are cloudy with the few spots of rain. Some of that

rain is heavy and windy here. The East stays dry, bright with sunny

spells, temperatures up to 18 Celsius. Only 12 in Glasgow. It's

looking dry tomorrow afternoon with patchy cloud and some more sunny

spells. It's generally warmer than today, cooler in the North West and

Coast. Find tomorrow evening, staying dry overnight, once again it

will turn a little bit chilly in land with those of the Celsius.

Thursday, a fine looking day maybe the odd spot of rain on Anglesey but

no more than that. They will be some sunshine and if you cloud, it will

stay fine on Friday with hazy sunshine staying warm over the

weekend. Increasingly humid though, maybe one or two showers and God

rumble of thunder. Thank you, Derek.