In a double blow to the summer season in Aberystwyth, two of the prom’s long-standing main attractions - donkey rides and the paddling pool - will again be absent this year.

Donkey rides on the prom have been a fixture of the tourist season in the town for 100 years, but were cancelled last year due to the pandemic.

Hopes were raised in May, when the council said they would review prom attractions before the summer, taking into account Covid rates, but the company that runs the donkey rides said they have again been refused.

Emma’s Donkeys of Llanidloes, the company behind the attraction run by the Vaughan family for five generations, said: “The donkeys won’t be on the promenade this summer as Ceredigion County Council has refused us again.

“We can’t understand why because all other donkey operators are out.”

Ceredigion council was asked to comment, but had not responded at the time of going to press.

And in another blow, hopes that Aberystwyth’s popular paddling pool could be reinstated have been dashed, after the council said it was filling in the disused, damaged pool and converting it into a seating area.

The pool had been one of the major attractions on Aberystwyth prom since the 1950s, until storm damage caused it to be closed in 2016. In 2018, it was turned into a sand pit but it now lies abandoned.

Campaigners have been calling for the paddling pool to be reinstated, but - at least temporarily - the area will be turned into a seating area.

The council said it was a “temporary solution” to avoid leaving the area in “poor condition”. They added: “Anything more permanent would be dependent on sea defence works coming forward.”

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