Remote, quiet spot hit by tragedy

The police road block remained at the scene on Monday morning

The car in which a man and two children were found dead was parked at the side of a remote country lane.

Surrounded by rolling hills and woods, the lane, in the hamlet of Maenan, Conwy, is a single-track way off the A470 between Llanrwst and Llandudno.

The hills in the area are criss-crossed by similar narrow lanes, known mostly just to local residents who live in the sparsely populated area.

The only sound is of sheep bleating in the surrounding fields, and birdsong.

Rabbits, pheasants and ducks wander in the road.

The car was discovered parked in a small 'passing area' at the side of a lane.

The tracks are edged by high hedges and there are areas of quite dense woodland.

Access to homes, hidden from the road, are found around sudden sharp bends.

Farm traffic

Despite its remoteness the car was discovered, on Sunday afternoon, about 500 yards across the fields from the nearest house.

The occupants, Brian Philcox, his daughter Amy, aged seven, and three-year-old son Owen, were from the Runcorn area of Cheshire.

They had been reported missing after failing to return from a day out on Saturday,

Up the lane is a water pumping station and the lanes are well used by local farm traffic.

Local people said they were shocked by the event, but most did not want to talk directly to the press.

One local woman, Frances Jones, who works in a shop at the nearest village, a couple of miles away over the hills at Eglwys Bach, said: "It's so very sad. I heard about it yesterday from my daughter."