Five serious collisions across North Wales over “desperately sad” Bank Holiday weekend

Investigations are underway following a ‘desperately sad’ bank holiday weekend which saw several serious and two fatal collisions involving cars and motorcycles across the region.

The four day period between Friday 4th May and Monday 7th May saw five serious collisions take place across north Wales – three of which were in Wrexham.

At around 8:15am on Friday morning emergency services and an air ambulance were called to a collision involving a grey Hyundai and a black Triumph motorcycle near the Posthouse Roundabout on the A483 northbound.

A 48-year-man from Wrexham was airlifted to Aintree hospital with serious but not life threatening injuries.

The collision resulted in the road being closed for nearly two hours, with the southbound carriageway temporarily closed to allow the air ambulance to land at the scene.

Anyone with any information in relation to the incident is asked to contact Cheshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 53899.

Just a few hours later there was a fatal collision on the A525 Ruthin Road, which involved a silver coloured Fiat 500 and a motorcycle.

The incident, which took place just before rush hour at 4:10pm, occurred on the junction between Ruthin Road and the A483.

It was later confirmed that 48-year-old Nathan Jones from the Wrexham area died following the road traffic collision.

A statement released today by Nathan’s family describe him as “much loved father, son, brother and uncle” who “was full of life and a real character, loving, funny and stubborn too”.

Anybody with information is asked to contact officers at the Roads Policing Unit on 101 by quoting reference number W057541.

On Sunday 6th May two motorcyclists were involved in a serious collision on A487 between Dolgellau and Machynlleth at around 2pm.

A man in his 20s sustained life threatening injuries and was airlifted to hospital. The second motorcyclist was unharmed.

Officers would like to hear from anyone with information about the incident or who may have witnessed the motorcyclists just beforehand – please call 101 and quote ref W058707.

A further two incidents took place on Monday 7th May, including a further serious collision between a blue Kawasaki and a green Triumph TR7 on the B5130 between Holt Road and Wrexham Industrial Estate.

Multiple air ambulances attended the incident, which took place at 4.10pm.

The rider and pillion passenger of the motorcycle both suffered serious life threatening injuries.

Anyone with information or dashcam footage is asked to call the Roads Policing Unit on 101 quoting reference W059367.

Emergency services were also called to another collision between a motorcycle and car yesterday on the A494 at Bala at 3:09pm.

Late last night police confirmed that a 57-year-old man from the Wrexham area had died following the collision.

Anyone with any information is urged to call the Roads Policing Unit on 101 quoting reference W059333.

Superintendent Jane Banham, from the Force’s Operational Support Services, has described the weekend as “desperately sad” and confirmed that a series of investigations are now underway.

“Once again we have had a desperately sad weekend whereby our officers have dealt with fatal and serious collisions, and we would like to extend our heartfelt sympathies to all families and friends of those involved,” said Supt Banham.

“We would like to reassure the public that a thorough investigation will be carried out into every single collision and police enquiries are now underway.

“The families of those that sadly died are now being supported by specially and highly-trained Family Liaison Officers. These will now provide a two-way flow of information between the bereaved families and the investigation team.

“Dealing with fatal and serious collisions is never easy and I would like to commend our staff – as well as colleagues from other emergency services, for their continued professionalism when dealing with such incidents.

“They dealt with difficult scenes in very hot and humid weather conditions, and although additional police officers were brought on duty due to the sheer number of collisions that they were dealing with, many of them worked additional hours and for that we are extremely grateful.

“We would also like to thank the motoring public for their patience and understanding following the several road closures that were implemented over the weekend. We are fully aware of the impact closing roads can have on the transport network, and that, coupled with the additional bank holiday traffic, meant there was extra pressure.

“Although we apologise for any inconvenience that might have been caused, we are sure people can appreciate the severity of the weekend’s incidents and the reasoning behind the closures.

“Road safety is the responsibility of us all, whether as a driver, motorcyclist, cyclist or pedestrian and I would like to take this opportunity to ask everybody to take extra care when out and about on the roads, to think about their behaviour and what changes they could make to improve their own safety and that of other road users.

“Our dedicated team of police officers and police staff are fully committed to promoting road safety. Working 24/7 they carry out a great deal of campaign work which will continue with the sole aim of attempting to reduce the number of fatal and serious collisions.

“We are aware of concerns by local residents therefore we will also continue to target the minority who are endangering lives by their unreasonable actions.

Supt Banham added: “Following yet another busy weekend we will be focussing our enforcement in an attempt to reduce any further casualties and collisions by adopting a zero-tolerance approach.

“We are committed to keeping people safe on the roads of North Wales – we want them to enjoy the roads but most of all we want them to ride and drive safely and responsibly.

“Whilst the vast majority of motorists ride or drive appropriately, we will continue to target, with a view to prosecution, all those that ride or drive dangerously, at excess speed, overtake on solid white lines or commit any other road traffic offences. Please heed the warning.”

Investigations into the collisions are ongoing and anybody who may have information that could assist officers with their investigations are urged to contact North Wales Police via 101 or via the live web chat