A Porthmadog councillor is calling on the UK Government to centralise Welsh-language services in the town.

Borth-y-Gest town councillor, Simon Brooks, was chairman of Porthmadog Town Council in 2017 when HM Revenues and Customs announced its decision to keep its Welsh-language tax office in Porthmadog.

HMRC had previously said in 2015 that the office would be moved to Cardiff, resulting in the loss of 17 full-time jobs in the town.

Cllr Brooks said: “My idea is that the UK Government could have a centre for its Welsh-language services in Port.

“It would make a lot of sense. They have to provide a Welsh service because of the Welsh Language Act.

“We have a lot of Welsh speakers locally, and obviously office costs are cheaper in somewhere like Porthmadog than the middle of Cardiff.

“I remember the very successful campaign we ran as a town council between 2015 and 2017 to keep the tax office in Port.

“Nobody gave us a hope of getting a Tory government to back down, but we met politician after politician for two whole years and won.”

Cllr Brooks said he had brought the matter up on Tuesday night in the town council.

“Currently people phone Port if they want help with their tax returns in Welsh.

“Now we should campaign as a community to bring other Welsh-language services and jobs here.

“I have asked the town council to write to Mark Drakeford, the First Minister, and Alun Cairns, the Secretary of State for Wales, to get the ball rolling.”