UPDATE: 4.01pm
Friday, June 19

THE owner of The Sirhowy Arms has said the building where Cerys Yemm died should be torn down.

Mandy Miles, who appeared on Week in Week out earlier this week to discuss Miss Yemm's killing at the hands of recently released prisoner Matthew Williams, said seeing her mum's distress on the programme was too much.

Ms Miles, who walked in on the attack at the Argoed hotel last year, had said she was looking to sell the building on the show earlier this week.

But today she said: “I’ve just decided after watching the TV programme the other night and seeing Cerys’ mother so distressed out of decency it should be demolished.”

It comes after the launch of a petition by the family of Miss Yemm to razor the site to the ground, with an MP writing to the First Minister backing their campaign.

The petition says The Sirhowy Arms “is a constant reminder to me, my family and the local community of the event” that has “ripped the soul out of our family and affected a whole host of people”.

It adds that a local residents group has been petitioning to have the hotel shut down for many years and that it believes the Islwyn MP Chris Evans also backs the campaign.

The petition, which has gathered more than 30 signatures since it was launched on Thursday afternoon by Miss Yemm’s brother Cavan Peck, added: “I am asking for your help, to support this petition and to get this constant reminder of what happened erased from the community.

“I ask you to just give two minutes of your time to sign and share this petition, you can and will be making a difference.”

The twitter page launching the petition, @DemolishSirhowyArms, has already gained support from BBC presenter Jeremy Vine.

It comes after the mother of Cerys Yemm called for the demolition of the building earlier this week in TV documentary Week in Week out.

Paula Yemm, aged 49, said: “So long as it’s there, it’s a reminder of what was taken away. If I have to fight to my dying day I will fight for that to be knocked down."

Mr Peck said he launched the petition as his mother and the rest of his family find it hard being reminded of the buolding on a daily basis.

He added that the community was put at risk due to the number ex-offenders who were placed in the hotel.

Mandy Miles, the owner of the Sirhowy Arms, defended her operation and said she was sent offenders in good faith and was never told what they had been convicted of.

Week In Week Out, which aired earlier this week, discovered Caerphilly Council admitted it referred 10 sexual and violent offenders who were homeless to the hotel.

The local authority refused to be interviewed for the programme but says it considers risk assessments from police and the Probation Service before sending ex-offenders to stay in temporary accommodation.

William Graham, the Conservative AM for South East Wales, believes the council should have shared more information with Ms Miles and is backing calls for an investigation into its handling of the case.

During a debate in the Senedd he said: “The catalyst for the tragic events in Argoed last November was probably ineffective prison service and mental health services liaison.”

The petition, which is addressed to Caerphilly County Borough Council and the National Assembly of Wales, can be signed at https://www.change.org/p/caerphilly-county-borough-council-national-assembley-of-wales-i-would-like-the-sirhowy-arms-hotel-building-situated-in-argoed-to-be-demolished?just_created=true#petition-letter