A MANAGEMENT plan is “vital” to secure the future of Pen Dinas as a site of historical and natural interest, Ceredigion MP Ben Lake has warned.

Mr Lake said there was a danger that a lack of regular maintenance risked undermining recent archaeological finds at the iconic Aberystwyth landmark.

Following a first-ever geophysical survey earlier this year, Pen Dinas, which was previously understood to have been first inhabited by people during the Iron Age, was found to date back to the Bronze Age after a ‘burial mound’ indicated it would have been inhabited between 1200 and 700 BC

But the sheer size of the hillfort, and the speed of growth of vegetation on it, has caused a local history group to fear for its future.

Alan Chamberlain, of the Penparcau History and Heritage Group, said: “Pen Dinas is one of the most important sites in mid Wales, both historically as an Iron Age hillfort that features a Bronze Age burial mound, and as the largest local nature reserve in the UNESCO Dyfi Biosphere."

Mr Lake has also expressed his concern, and backed Mr Chamberlain’s calls for an “appropriate management” plan.

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