THE number of Welsh speakers in Powys has dropped by nearly 2% over a 10-year period.

Figures revealed by the Welsh Conservatives showed a 1.7% drop from March 2006 to March this year in the number of people in Powys, aged three and over, who say they can speak Welsh.

The party said Powys is one 12 of Wales’ 22 local authorities where the number of those able to speak Welsh has fallen.

The party’s Welsh language spokeswoman Suzy Davies AM said: "These worrying figures emphasise a decline in the prominence of Welsh speakers in many of the language’s traditional heartland areas.

"Whilst there are some positive developments, such as an increase in speakers in some areas of the language’s less-traditional areas, these figures potentially point to a decline in the language’s use in everyday life in many parts of Wales."

Ms Davies called for support to help all schoolchildren in Wales become confident in communicating in Welsh from an early age and to use the language outside of education.

The figures showed 26.6% of Powys’ population, aged three and over, said they could speak Welsh at the end of March 2006 but the figure had dropped to 24.9% by the end of March this year.

The greatest percentage of Welsh speakers in Powys are concentrated in the north west of the county while the south west of Powys, including Ystradgynlais, is a stronghold of the language in Brecon and Radnorshire.

Gwynedd has the highest percentage of Welsh speakers, 70.5%, but this figure had reduced by 3.7 over the 10 years.