WELSH language campaigners yesterday began a five-day fast to highlight the dangers facing rural communities. Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg members claimed Welsh was disappearing from villages across the country, with schools the latest bastion set to topple. They want local authorities to make safeguarding the Welsh language a central tenet of council policy. Rhyl-born campaigner Ffred Ffransis said: "We need to wake up to the fact the Eisteddfod field might well be the only Welsh speaking community left by 2020. "I and others will be fasting to symbolise the serious nature of the crisis facing our Welsh speaking communities. I've witnessed massive changes in my own Welsh-speaking community in the Teifi Valley during the last five years as local youngsters have been forced out by the housing market. "We have lost the village school which gave the community its focus and hope for the future and means to integrate children moving into the area. "Our elected representatives are not taking the crisis seriously." Campaigners are organising a petition calling for a new property act, with a rally at the Eisteddfod today demanding a new Welsh language act. | 
