NEWPORT City Council has responded to allegations it was not listening to residents of a street cut off from the public highway.

A fire ripped through a house in Forge Mews, Bassaleg, on Wednesday morning, destroying a family's belongings and killing their two pet cats.

A fundraising appeal has since been set up to support the family at this time.

Several neighbours told the Argus the incident had made their worst fears come true - for nearly a year they have been unable to drive into their road, they said, because the council had condemned a bridge and later sealed off another access point.

Forge Mews is effectively inaccessible to vehicles, but members of the emergency services are supposed to be able to access the street by entering a code at a locked gate.

The only problem on Wednesday, residents said, was that the lock had seized up, despite firefighters knowing the correct code.

Crews then had to use bolt cutters to break the lock, and while no people were seriously hurt in the fire, Forge Mews residents said they feared what could have happened had it been an ambulance trying to get through the gate.

The Argus contacted the city council regarding the residents' concerns.

In response, a spokesperson for the local authority said: "The council would like to offer our condolences to the victims of the fire for the impacts this has caused them, especially the loss of their pets.

"We would also like to express our gratitude to the emergency services for their swift response to the fire."

The council said it had "established a procedure with the emergency services for access to Forge Mews".

Confirming that "all emergency services have been given the code to unlock the gate", the council said it was "aware the fire service had an issue when trying to use the code" but this issue "did not materially affect their response time".

The council spokesperson added: "We have engaged with our colleagues in the emergency services related to this incident and will consider if any other action is needed related to the use of the emergency access.

"An update was given to residents on November 11 about how work on the bridge is progressing.

"The initial urgent repairs that were made last year have resulted in the bridge remaining available for pedestrian use. We are currently conducting further tests and analysis of the bridge which must be completed to enable us to consider the next steps.

"We will continue to engage with residents and in the meantime, we will continue to facilitate pedestrian access over the bridge, and residents’ access to parking spaces on the other side of the river."