Pembrokeshire is the only county in Wales served by two Trunk Road Agencies, and it has caused problems, said Deputy County Council Leader Jamie Adams.

He told yesterday's (Thursday's) meeting of the council's Environment Overview and Scrutiny committee that on a winter night, when the Council was salting the roads, they were told by the South West TRA that they did not want the Haverfordwest-St Clears A40 salted.

"There were five or six accidents that morning and that is wholly unacceptable," he said. "This is an example of a bad working relationship. While they are responsible for road safety on the trunk road we felt the impact of that on our figures."

Cllr Adams joined in criticism of the fact that the South West TRA had dropped out of the Pembrokeshire Road Safety Forum when it was imperative that they were represented.

He offered to write to the Assembly Highways Minister urging the TRA's presence on the forum.

County chairman Cllr Robin Evans praised the co-operation he received from the Mid-Wales TRA, which covers north Pembrokeshire, and Head of Highways and Construction Darren Thomas, said the Mid Wales Agency was not a problem. It was important the other TRA was on the forum as 40% of road accidents occurred on the trunk roads.

Director of Transportation and Environment, Ian Westley, said it was essential that the South Wales Agency were present at every forum.

He explained that the accidents occurred because the two agencies used different weather forecasts which was why they vetoed the salting of the road. Since then they had reviewed their system, recommending salting even if their forecast did not warrant it.

It was agreed to write to the South Wales TRA urging them to maintain forum attendance.