THE MP's for Delyn and Wrexham have shared their own and their constituents' views on the 20mph speed limits, three months after they were first implemented in Wales.

As of September, the majority of residential roads in Wales have changed from being 30mph to 20mph.

The Welsh Government claims the move will 'help save lives', but the change has been met with great criticism with over 460,000 people signing a petition in opposition.

And a similar unhappy feeling exists in the Delyn constituency too, according to the MP who represents that area.

That constituency consists of the likes of Holywell, Greenfield and Northop among other areas.

Rob Roberts MP says a 'high proportion' of the emails he has received regarding the 20mph speed limits have been 'negative' from his constituents.

He said: "I've had a bunch of emails and whilst I can't say they were all negative, certainly a high proportion of them are. Literally 10% of emails were happy with it."

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Talking to the Leader about his own views on the new speed limit, Mr Roberts added: "I’ve found it frustrating. When you’ve been driving the same streets for decades, you have something equivalent to “muscle memory”.

"I know how fast I can drive in each place. Now that’s all up in the air and I’m finding myself paying more attention to the speedometer more than anything else.

"Because of this, I have had a couple of near-misses of incidents over the last few weeks which is more than I’ve had for the past 10 years. Regardless of my personal views, the duly elected Welsh Government has implemented it and changed the law within their powers and it's my responsibility to abide by it, so I've been doing my best to do just that.

"It has not been easy or at all a pleasant driving experience. There seems to be a lot more people driving very close behind, being aggressive and overtaking in places that are not safe to do so.

The Leader: PIC: Delyn MP Rob Roberts.

"I also find that people are driving faster in "National Speed Limit" zones simply because they have a sense of freedom from the snail's pace and this is also causing issues."

Mr Roberts added: "I'm no expert and take my steer from the myriad transport, tourism and other experts who have already been widely publicised.

"I think it is detrimental to emergency services and various other public service providers. District nurses don't have enough time to get round all the patients they didn't have time to get round in the first place, so this has made that problem worse, and things like taxi services for people who don't have cars are more expensive as it is taking taxi firms longer to make each journey.

"There are just so many downsides and minimal benefits, if any. I'm baffled as to why it's happening when there are so many other things to fix.

"Since devolution 25 years ago, Wales has fallen behind the rest of the UK. Instead of fixing education, health or economic performance, the Welsh Government are focussing on a speed limit change that nobody wants."

Meanwhile, over in Wrexham, Sarah Atherton MP also believes the money spent on implementing the 20mph speed limits in Wales, could have instead been used to improve other services.

She said: "For months, I have been advocating against this anti-car and anti-driver policy, emphasising that the initial cost, which is £32 million, would have been better spent on improving our public services in Wrexham, such as healthcare and housing.

"At a time when ambulances are banking up outside the Maelor, residents cannot get a GP appointment, and bed capacity is being reduced just before winter pressures hit."

The Leader: PIC: Wrexham MP Sarah Atherton.

She added: "To be clear, I support 20mph limits near schools and hospitals, but a blanket approach lacks common sense and is not backed by rigorous evidence.

"Beyond slowing down emergency services and risking lives, the new default speed limit is harming businesses and tourism, with forecasts predicting that it will cost the Welsh economy £4.5 billion."

Talking about her constituents in Wrexham, Mrs Atherton added: "Residents are rightly concerned about what could come next: a Wrexham ULEZ, toll roads.

"For as long as the Welsh Government continues to defend its costly and chaotic project, I will continue to represent my constituents’ concerns with regards to the policy’s implementation, safety, and cost.

“I have had an overwhelming number of constituents contact me since the 20mph policy was implemented. The rollout was slow and chaotic, with 30mph signs still erected in areas where the speed limit had been reduced to 20mph.

"We are now seeing the consequences of the policy unravel: congestion, damage to businesses, taxi drivers losing two rides a shift and having to put up prices and delayed emergency responses to name a few. In short, the policy has been a recipe for disaster."