Renovation work is underway on Flintshire’s Grade II listed lighthouse.

The lighthouse at the Point of Ayr, near Mostyn, is now a beacon of hope thanks to the new owners who are putting right years of neglect.

Cllr Carolyn Thomas, Flintshire Council’s cabinet member for Countryside, went to the privately owned and much photographed location to find out how the refurbishment is going alongside coastal ranger Mike Taylor and Cllr Glyn Banks.

She said: “I soon discovered the owners are a private family who are renovating it – as and when work and family allow – and they have faced lots of challenges.

“Work has had to be undone and lots of interior and foundation work to make the historic building, first constructed in 1776, structurally sound.”

The building’s entire brickwork was saturated with water, as the inside was rendered in non-breathable cement-based render and the outside was painted in modern waterproof masonry paint.

Rainwater leaking in through the poorly repaired lantern remained trapped in the brickwork, causing the bricks to deteriorate, and leading to frost damage in the winter, with bricks blowing on the outside, which in turn damaged areas of external render.

They then had to remove all the render on the inside.  The brickwork is now almost dry.

Cllr Thomas added: “Soon after purchasing it, almost five years ago, stormy seas crashed in through a window, ripped out the internal staircase and disintegrated new replacement lantern glass which had been carefully stacked on the ground floor.

“They are currently finishing the external render, working from the top down, and have done temporary repairs to cracks on the lower parts, hence the patchy appearance.

“It may take some time yet before it is repainted as they want it to be done well and last many years.

“Originally the lighthouse was built in the dunes but, over time, the dunes receded inland, leaving the lighthouse isolated by the sea at high tide.

“Flintshire’s countryside department will be working with the owners to produce an interpretation board with information and photographs of the lighthouse so visitors will be able to learn more about it and hopefully satisfy their curiosity.”