Welsh Conservatives say the 20mph hour speed limit in Wales will hamper firefighters responding to emergencies.

Welsh Conservatives Shadow Minister for Transport, Natasha Asghar MS, has heard concerns from a firefighter over the impact of the Labour Government's 20mph default speed limit.

The retained firefighter highlighted that:

- The 20mph default speed limit will delay firefighters getting to stations in their own vehicles.

- Fire incidents will take longer to get to.

- Labour have extended the distance of retained firefighters from 5 minutes travel to 10 minutes, with the new speed limit impacting journeys.

This is on top of revelations highlighted by the Assistant Chief Constable for South Wales Police, Mark Travis, disclosing that the new default 20mph speed limit in Wales “will have an impact on how we within the four Welsh police forces and you as emergency services, carry out your core business…”.

Commenting on the shocking disclosures, Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Transport, Natasha Asghar MS said: 

“A leaked email last week highlighted that Wales’ 20mph speed limit will slow police response times, the email is in black and white for the world to see.

“Now we have new revelations from a member of the fire service that blanket 20mph speed limits will slow them down, and put lives on the line. It proves that this ludicrous policy is not about safety when lives are being put at risk as a result.

“The last week has raised some serious concerns from the public and Labour need to have a rethink and urgently put a hold on the roll out of default 20mph speed limits. They’re a risk to people’s lives, this has to be more important than the Labour Minister’s fragile ego and vanity project which is what this blanket 20MPH has become.”