The slate town has high unemployment and a drug problem

A new pressure group has been formed in Blaenau Ffestiniog to help end what it claims has been years of neglect.

Members of Yn Ein Blaenau (YEB) said that the Snowdonia town has lost out to other areas nearby in recent years.

But the Welsh Assembly Government said �130m was available to help solve problems in the unemployment blackspot.

Vivian Williams, who has spent four decades in Blaenau Ffestiniog said the town had seen in a slump in fortunes since it was a thriving town at the heart of the slate-mining industry.

"It was an excellent place to live and it was a hive of activity where shopping was concerned," he said.

"We had all the major shops, Woolworths for example and the Welsh national stores like Briggs, Boots, and all those all those shops used to be in the town here.

We wonder whether the Welsh Assembly Government in fact has resorted to 'old Labour' tactics of rewarding safe seats YEB spokesman Father Deiniol

"Unfortunately they've all disappeared one by one and moved to other towns.

"The nearby town of Porthmadog has thrived over the last 20 years," he added, "at the expense of Blaenau, unfortunately."

Blaenau Ffestiniog has a growing drugs problem, high unemployment and the future of its hospital is under consideration.

And YEB has claimed that there is no political will to reverse the decline.

The group's figurehead is the eastern orthodox priest Father Deiniol from All Saints Church in Wales.

"We wonder whether the political will is there to promote the economy of an area like this," he said.

Tourism is now the biggest employer in the town

"We wonder whether the Welsh Assembly Government in fact has resorted to 'old Labour' tactics of rewarding safe seats.

"So we wonder whether this Welsh Assembly Government is an assembly government for Wales or for just certain parts of Wales."

But the assembly government said it was firmly committed to the region.

It issued a statement which said that the commitment to Gwynedd and Blaenau Ffestiniog is "clearly demonstrated by our substantial and continued investment in the area, including �130 million through the Gwynedd Economic Partnership and direct investments in a wide range of schemes, regeneration projects, organisations and community groups."