Dredging has begun at Aberaeron harbour.

Diggers were spotted on Monday 2 February out on the mound which built up inside the harbour entrance.

The build-up began during construction of the new breakwater, built to protect the town from coastal flooding.

A large bank of shingle developed inside the harbour entrance, pushed up from the beach south of the harbour mouth.

As it was a Ceredigion County Council coastal defence project, the local authority has taken responsibility for addressing the issue which had caused the entrance to become all but “unnavigable” to mariners.

The council said it would return the dredged shingle to South Beach, “placed above Mean High Water Springs (MHWS) between the first and second timber groynes”.

The council did not respond to questions from the Cambrian News about how much the dredging would cost - the £32 million project had already ballooned to become £4 million over budget by the time it was completed last October.

The project was majority funded by the Welsh government, with 15 per cent coming from Ceredigion County Council.

The council also did not respond to our questioning on how many times the harbour entrance would need to be dredged, but that the council “undertakes and funds dredging activity across the harbour estate in order to maintain navigation within those harbours”.

A spokesperson for the council added that “movement of shingle was expected following the additional 7,000m3 of material which has been placed on South Beach during the construction works” and it would need time to settle.

Readers have expressed their scepticism over the dredging plans, with one commenting: “I'm no marine engineer but surely scooping the shingle out of the harbour that has come from South Beach and then putting it back on South Beach is counter-productive and a massive waste of money? Clowns.”