06/03/2017 BBC Wales Today

Good evening.

The scale of the drug problem facing Wrexham has been a cause

for concern for months.

Tonight, it's become the focus of talks involving Welsh Government

ministers and the North Wales Police commissioner after a series

of images were widely shared on social media showing drug

paraphenalia and people collapsed in and around

the town's bus station.

Our reporter Roger Pinney has spent the day in the area.

You may find some of the images in his report unsettling.

A man slumped against a wall, he appears barely awake.

Here a street plant holder is used as a bed.

It is suggested the people in these pictures are highly on drugs.

Other images show drugs paraphernalia, needles and foils

littering the bus station floor.

They apeared on social media and have been shared on social media

more than 3,000 times.

Gavin Rodda, a bus driver, put the pictures in the

public domain.

They were collated over the last 18 months.

We've had an increase in police presence which has been great

for the bus station, but at the same time

the security guards we have here, they do a good job.

But these people know when to come in and when to go out.

They are good at being avoided.

Apparently the main problem at the moment

are so-called legal highs.

Last week we were told that a strong batch came on the market and was

fast acting, and seemed to knock users out particularly quickly.

Around the bus station these drug users are

referred to as the zombies.

I filmed this on my mobile phone today.

The reason I got involved was purely to look after his welfare,

that he didn't collapse on the floor in a heap.

Inspector Paul Wycherley in charge of policing the town centre.

He says where there is anti-social behaviour

is officers will act.

But it isn't that straightforward.

What we need to do as well is we need a clear distinction

between people who are homeless and in need,

and people who make a life choice that they want to take certain

substances and products.

Clearly with the former, my officers and myself are duty bound

to look after them and protect their welfare..

The bus station is owned by Wrexham Council.

In answer to complaints, security has been stepped up,

a redesign of the building is being looked at.

Brothers Phil and Andy Gallanders run the bus station coffee shop.

Despite improvements they say customers are still concerned.

We get a lot of people mentioning that they

walk through and are getting asked for money constantly.

Spare change.

But the situation is improving?

We feel it's improved since we've opened here last year.

But the power of social media has pushed the issue into the spotlight.

Today it was raised in talks at the Welsh Government

between ministers and the North Wales Police and Crime commission.

But according to substance misuse workers there are no easy solutions.

If you move people away from here where would they go?

They'll find another spot somewhere in town.

They've been moved on that many times they will

find someone else to go.

Many of those people are under the influence of legal highs

and that is one of the real problems and we need Parliament to change

the legislation to give us more powers to tackle

that particular issue.

For now in Wrexham this remains a highly visible problem.

The Home Office says the sale of drugs like those

being used at the bus station has now been banned

and further action is likely to follow.

A 15-year-old boy is believed to have fallen from cliffs

near Sully in the Vale of Glamorgan and died from his injuries.

Stanwell School, where Miller Coyle was a year ten pupil says

it's with immense sorrow they learned of his death.

He will be greatly missed by pupils and staff.

The leader of the Green party in Wales has resigned.

Alice Hooker Stroud says the lack of funding for smaller parties

in the UK meant she was unable to carry on in the voluntary role.

She'll be replaced by the deputy leader, Grenville Ham.

The parents of a teenage boy who was run over in the grounds

of Maesteg Comprehensive are calling for a "lock down" of all school

grounds by law at the start and the end of the day.

Ashley Talbot was hit by a minibus as he was running

for bus home in 2014.

His parents want the law changed so vehicles remain stationary

while children enter and leave school premises.

Caroline Evans reports.

15-year-old Ashley was heading home, running for the bus when he was

knocked down inside school grounds.

His mother, who is battling cancer, and his father, told me two years on

their emotions remain raw.

I'm really angry.

It was shocking.

Maybe because the children were inside a locked compound.

They felt a lot safer

and treated it as a car park instead of a road with traffic.

The driver, PE teacher Christopher Brooks will not

face prosecution.

Police say he would have had less than a second to react.

One bus driver told the inquest it was

an accident waiting to happen.

The family say they were shocked when they heard this.

They now want the law changed so no vehicle is allowed to move

on a school site whilst children are crossing the grounds.

We are hoping to take this to London to get it passed, you know,

and hopefully have something more

that makes the school environment safer.

To have lockdowns on all schools nationwide

just to make the children safer.

The coroner has raised concerns with the design of the school

and is demanding to know from the school and Bridgend council

what actions are being taken to improve safety on site.

His report is also being sent to the Welsh Government

so that wider lessons can be learned.

Because of the incident in Dunblane you ended up with key codes

on doors so nobody was allowed to walk

into a school anywhere.

You know, we are hoping that, you know, we want to raise

the standard of safety at schools for children.

Ashley would have been 18 next month.

His mother says she is determined to see change happen in his name.

A heritage charity in the south Wales Valleys is searching for money

which was raised to support bereaved families of Britain's

worst colliery accident.

A fund was established after the 1913 Senghenydd disaster

that killed 439 men.

But records seem to show that just a fraction of it was spent.

Anything left over could now be worth millions.

We know that people paid up until, perhaps, the late 1950s, 1960s.

There was nobody left then to pay the money to,

so what we would like to know is what happened to the remaining

moneys and where did it go to?

Let's see what the weather has in store.

Sue Charles has the forecast.

Good evening.

After a day of sunshine and showers, more rain at

times over the next few days.

Breezy with some brighter spells and a bit milder as well.

Overnight, just a few showers but drier conditions

will develop and with clear

skies and lighter winds a slight frost possible in the coldest spots,

especially across rural mid Wales, a risk of ice on untreated surfaces.

Tomorrow starts cold and dry but this secluded

front will bring rain in from the south-west tomorrow.

A chilly start with some frost, dry and bright spells but starting

to cloud over ahead of rain pushing in from the south-west.

Across the UK it is the north and east holding onto

the drier, brighter weather for longest.

Clouding over ahead of that band of rain, pushing in from

the south-west and slowly moving north-eastwards through the day.

Blustery with highs of eight Celsius in Northern Ireland,

11 in south-east England.

By tomorrow afternoon that rain starting to spread

across Wales, heavy at times, briefly wintry in the hills.

Southerly winds picking up, highs of eight Celsius

in Swansea, nine in Wrexham.

Another wave of this system brings more rain tomorrow night and

early on Wednesday before that front eventually clears eastwards.

Tomorrow night, further rain on and off, maybe some drier spells.

Misty and murky but not as cold as tonight, cloud holding up

the temperatures between five and eight Celsius.

More rain on Wednesday morning.

It should all clear eastwards by the afternoon, a few

lingering showers.

Often overcast, some brighter spells and with brisk winds bringing

in warm air from the south-west, feeling slightly milder

at 10-13 Celsius.

For the next couple of days largely cloudy, wet and windy at times

but slightly milder later in the week with some

brighter spells as well.

That's Wales Today.

Thank you for watching, from all of us on the programme, goodnight.