Cadbury’s Llanelli Merthyr Mystery Revealed

It’s been puzzling Llanelli people for over a week, but now we can finally reveal the truth!

Llanelli’s Thomas St was in fact used as the entrance to Merthry Tydfil.  If you weren’t aware of the original story, click here to read.

Our little scoop has either made people laugh or made them angry.  Such is the pride we have in our town, we had to find out more and see if it was true.

We contacted Cadbury and eventually a spokesperson told us that:

“We worked very closely with Sarah Thomas and her family in the preparation of this film and wanted to remain true to her memory of growing up in Merthyr.”

“Unfortunately, many of the places that defined Sarah’s childhood no longer exist in Merthyr so it was difficult to find a single image that evoked that memory.”

“Looking further afield, we felt Thomas Street would give us a good representation of the close knit community and local shops Sarah remembered so well. The local shop owners were happy to lend their support and kindly let us alter their signage on the day”

Further investigations revealed that it was filmed early morning on Sunday 9th October.  Two properties had their signage changed and the whole filming took less than hour.

The crown that gathered to watch the filming were lucky enough to receive free chocolates.  However, whilst everyone is pleased that Llanelli has been used, some of our residents are disappointed that the Town hasn’t been given credit.  

Keith Davies, our AM told us: 

“As Dai Greene is tipped for Gold shouldn’t he have been running instead of Sarah and have Llanelli mentioned not Merthyr.”

“It is obvious that it will be the streets of Llanelli that are paved in gold next year so using Thomas Street is a premonition!”

Council leader Cllr Meryl Gravell said:

“I would like to thank Cadbury for the explanation; however it is still very misleading to the public as Llanelli is being portrayed as Merthyr Tydfil.”

“In particular, it is very disappointing given the fact that we have our very own sporting champion in Dai Greene who will also be flying the Welsh flag in the 2012 Olympics.”

Thomas St Businessman, Roger Bowen of Tax Assist Accountants told us that:

“I cannot believe that there is not a street in Merthyr Tydfil that was not regarded as good enough to be filmed, but on the other hand, just shows how good a town Llanelli is!

If you still think it’s a hoax or somewhere else, then look at the pictures below by Jeff Connell (courtesy of Carmarthenshire County Council).

Cadbury’s film crew caught in the act!

Thomas St newsagents undergoes changes!

To become Merthy Tydfil sweet shop.

If you have any comments then please email us at news@llanellitown.com.