Plaid Cymru has called for action to tackle the problems of rural Wales.

As election campaigning continued on Friday, the nationalists issued a bleak warning that much of Wales's rural western coastline is now poorer than former communist Eastern Europe.

As a result young people are moving away from the area and local services are disappearing, said the party.

Setting out its "radical proposals" to tackle the problem, Plaid called for the establishment of a directly elected West Coast Development Authority, with powers to tackle economic and social problems.

It also backed an end to the closure of rural schools, more affordable housing and improved access to NHS dentistry.

The party would also overhaul the structure of the Welsh Assembly Government to ensure a greater focus on rural areas.

"There is a real east-west split in the fortunes of the Welsh economy that has to be tackled," said Plaid Cymru policy director Simon Thomas.

"The establishment of a West Coast Development Authority, which will have specific duties to counter the problems of  peripheral areas in the West, would help deal with the split.

"We realise that this a radical proposal. A directly elected body with real teeth to deal with the problems of rural Wales is needed because New Labour totally ignores the problems of areas outside Cardiff.

"The vast majority of rural Wales has been forgotten by New Labour, they ignore its interests and needs. 

"That explains why they have not raised  a finger to help with the loss of local schools, post offices and jobs."

Thomas added that the loss of key services could "ultimately kill" rural communities.

"There must be action to prevent  our rural communities suffering from this vicious circle of the loss of  services and depopulation," he said.