A new 'changeable' electronic sign to be introduced in Tenby to provide warnings for a flooding hotspot, could also be utilised to promote events in the town, councillors heard this week.

Reporting to members of the town council at their meeting on Tuesday night, town clerk, Andrew Davies told members that earlier in the year, Pembrokeshire County Council had stated they were looking to replace point of entry signs at the entrance to several towns, and following on from that, the highways department were now proposing to introduce an electronic variable message sign (VMS) in Tenby to predominantly warn of any flooding at the Gumfreston spot.

"It is proposed that one of these VMS signs be included in the new point of entry sign to be located on the entrance to Tenby near Park House Court on the bypass," he said.

"While the overriding purpose of the VMS is to warn of the flooding, this has presented the opportunity for it to be used for alternative 'events' promotion when not in use for its primary purpose," continued Mr. Davies, explaining that the facility could also therefore be used to advertise large scale tourist events, throughout the year, such as Ironman Wales.

"The VMS would advise of the event, location if applicable and it's date in English and Welsh, and there is a possibility that more than one event per month could be included changing periodically, eg. in September Ironman could be advertised for an hour, then the Arts Festival for an hour and back to Ironman and so forth," continued Mr. Davies, who outlined a list of 10 possible events in Tenby that could be featured.

"This could also potentially reduce the amount of 'unauthorised' signage which appears on the verges in the lead up to events," Mr. Davies told members.

"As an aside, the VMS could also be used to advise of emergency road closures in the town," he added.

"We've been asking for something like this for donkey's years and finally it appears to be coming to fruition, so I'd support recommending that this goes ahead, with the list of events a feature to be included," remarked Clr. Trevor Hallett.