News
Meet ‘Penfro’ – the county council’s new chatbot

WHEN’S the end of term? What time does my library close today? How do I report a broken street-light?
These are just a few of the 4,592 questions answered by Penfro – Pembrokeshire County Council’s new chatbot – in its first month of going live.
The new virtual webchat assistant was launched on the Council’s website and Facebook messenger pages in April.
And it’s already proved to be a success, says Cllr Neil Prior.
“The aim is to give our customers a quick and easy way to find out the information they need,” said Cllr Prior, Cabinet Member for Transformation.
“Penfro is available 24/7 and can deal with the vast majority of queries.
“It means customers don’t have to wait in a queue for a call to be answered – or trawl through a list of information on our website for a specific piece of information.”
He said Penfro is also beneficial for the Council’s contact centre team by freeing up resources to deal with the more complex questions.
“There will always be queries which need to be dealt with by a member of staff on the phone or face-to-face, especially with more complicated issues,” he said.
“But a lot of the time, the questions our customers are asking us are very simple. And they’re the same! We have lots of queries about orange bag collections, leisure centre classes, library opening times and so on. Penfro can help with all these, and more.”
Although Penfro is pre-programmed with frequently asked questions, it also uses artificial intelligence to learn from the questions people ask most often in order to develop quicker and better responses.
Any questions which Penfro can’t answer are passed straight on to the Council’s contact centre team.
Cllr Prior praised the expertise of the team which developed Penfro and said he was excited about its future.
“Log on and see what you can find out – you might be surprised!”
News
Car crashes into house in St Davids

EMERGENCY services were called after a car crashed into a house on Nun Street in St Davids on Thursday (Apr 24).
Dyfed-Powys Police and Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service attended the scene at around 4:35pm following reports of a single-vehicle collision.
On arrival, they found that a car had collided with a residential property. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.
The road remained open while the vehicle was recovered.
A spokesperson for Dyfed-Powys Police said: “Dyfed-Powys Police attended a report of a single-vehicle road traffic collision where a car collided with a property on Nun Street, St Davids, at around 4:35pm yesterday. No injuries were reported, and the road remained open while the vehicle was recovered.”
Community
Milford Haven and Neyland Police issue appeal for missing man

POLICE are appealing for information to help locate a 54-year-old man who has been reported missing from the Milford Haven area.
Neil is described as being around 6ft 2in tall with a shaved head. He has tattoos on his arms and one of his fingers, and sometimes wears glasses.
He was last seen on Friday afternoon (Apr 26) wearing a black Superdry hoodie, ripped jeans, and orange and black Nike Air trainers. Neil is believed to be on foot.
Anyone with information that could help is urged to contact Dyfed-Powys Police: | Online portal
| 101@dyfed-powys.police.uk
| Call 101, quoting reference 262 of April 26.
Community
Fire service delivers vital kit to Ukraine

Wales joins UK’s largest firefighting aid convoy
MID and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service (MAWWFRS) has taken part in the UK’s largest ever convoy delivering vital firefighting equipment to Ukraine, joining 17 other Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) from across the country.
The convoy, coordinated by FIRE AID and supported by the UK Government, left the UK in early April. It travelled through France, Germany and Poland, delivering over 30 fire service vehicles and more than 15,000 items of equipment to support Ukrainian firefighters on the front line of the ongoing war.
Since the Russian invasion in 2022, UK fire services have donated 119 vehicles and over 200,000 pieces of equipment to Ukraine. Each participating service ensured local needs were met before donating surplus kit.
Watch Manager Rob Kershaw represented MAWWFRS on the convoy. He said:
“It’s been a privilege to be part of this convoy and to represent both FIRE AID and Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service.
We received invaluable support and assistance from fire and police services across every country we passed through. Their help in coordinating, escorting, and hosting the convoy was outstanding.”
Chief Fire Officer Roger Thomas KFSM added:
“MAWWFRS is proud to support our colleagues in Ukraine by donating and delivering essential equipment.
The events in Ukraine have deeply affected the fire and rescue community, and this convoy is a demonstration of our ongoing commitment to helping those still working under extreme conditions.”
The donated equipment will support firefighters in Ukraine who continue to operate in war zones to save lives and protect property—often at great personal risk. Since the conflict began, 100 Ukrainian firefighters have been killed and 431 injured. A total of 411 fire stations and 1,700 firefighting vehicles have been destroyed.
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