DVLA Christmas Party Cancelled

Many shoppers and pre-Christmas revelers stayed away in a snow-hit Swansea Bars and businesses in Wales are counting the cost as one of the busiest weekends of the year appeared to fall flat after the snow white-out.

Emergency services were ready for “Black Friday”, the last Friday after a normal working day before Christmas. But while tens of thousands of revelers were expected in city and town centers, the weather put a dampener on festive high jinks.

Firms also reported a dip in sales as conditions kept many shoppers at home.

Swansea had been expecting to host more than two dozen coach loads of staff from the city’s Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to hold their Christmas party on Friday.

But the day out was cancelled as snow led the DVLA to tell its staff to stay at home on Friday. Normally, city centre pubs and bars in Swansea can expect to see up to 20,000 people on Black Friday.

Cardiff city centre can see an estimated 300,000 shoppers and party-goers on the last full shopping Friday before Christmas. But Estelle Hitchon, from Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, said the accident and emergency department at the University Hospital of Wales was much quieter than expected.

The snow led to a quieter pre-Christmas weekend in Cardiff city centre, the second cold snap of the winter, which has hit Wales much harder than the first, has had a similar effect on retailers.

In Merthyr Tyfdil, all the stores at Cyfarthfa Retail Park closed their doors early on Friday as blocked roads kept customers away.

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