The leader of Ceredigion County Council has expressed fears for the future of towns and villages in the county following the vote to leave the EU.

Ellen ap Gwynn said she was “deeply shocked” by the result of the referendum and was “fearful for the implications that leaving the EU” will have on Ceredigion’s rural communities.

“We have already seen the value of the pound plummet and the market fall to a level that will badly affect our pension funds and increase the cost of imports,” said Cllr ap Gwynn.

“Ceredigion has been a net beneficiary of EU funding since 2000 and our local economy will be hard hit in many ways.

“We have received money for infrastructure projects such as sea defences, research funding has been received by the universities, there’s been community project funding, tourism projects and especially when the £44m annually that was paid to farmers is removed, there will be a serious impact on life in rural Wales. I am afraid that in the medium term, the future for the local economy and for local government funding and services looks bleak. I sincerely hope that I am proved wrong.”