Aberaeron’s 212-year wait for a breakwater to protect its harbour may be nearing its end, town councillors learnt last week.

Plans for the harbour published in 1807 included designs for a breakwater to protect the harbours from high winds and large waves.

Local fishermen and yachtsmen have repeatedly claimed that the lack of such a structure has left the town unprotected.

Yachtsman Nick Sawyer, founder of the Aberaeron Flood Reaction Group, said: “We do have this problem when a north-westerly wind is blowing, combined with a high spring tide and high swell. Quay Parade starts flooding and properties get flooded.”

Now, county councillor Elizabeth Evans has disclosed that offshore drilling tests from March could determine a possible site for a breakwater.

“They’ll be drilling exploratory bore-holes confined to an area off Aberaeron,” she told town councillors.

“There are lots of points where they’re going to be drilling. They will have to abide to the terms of their licence because I know people will be worried about the possible effect these exploratory works will have on our dolphins - they cannot just go off willy-nilly.”

Hopes have been expressed in the past that a breakwater would provide a much-needed safe haven in Cardigan Bay as well as giving a potential boost to a declining fishing industry.

See this week’s South Ceredigion paper for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition now