THE resurfacing of Cwmcarn Forest Drive will get under way in the near future - and preparations have already begun.

However, Natural Resources Wales - who will be overseeing the operation - have said that the current coronavirus pandemic has made the time frame difficult to predict.

Preparations include work such as filling potholes, and resurfacing will begin after this has been completed.

Geminie Drinkwater, project manager from Natural Resources Wales said: “We remain committed to reopening the forest drive, but unfortunately the current situation has posed some additional challenges which is likely to cause a delay in the completion of the project.

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“Our priority at the moment has to be the safety of our staff and our contractors – I’m sure people will appreciate that.

“We’ll do everything we can to minimise the delay and will provide further updates on progress as soon as we can.”

Cwmcarn Forest Drive has been closed to the public since 2014 while 150,000 diseased larch trees were removed from the site.

The restoration of Cwmcarn would have been at a more advanced stage, were it not for a spate of deliberate fires set in and near the forest drive in the summer of 2018, which killed many of the newly-planted saplings on the hillsides.