SOUTH Ceredigion residents could call for a referendum to split the county if there are any attempts to force a merger with Powys Council, one councillor has warned.

A threat to force Ceredigion council into a merger with Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire has been abandoned, but the Welsh Government has made it clear that it expects to see greater partnership and regional working.

Council leader Ellen ap Gwynn has warned that Ceredigion representatives must ensure that does not see the county miss out on funding or services.

Beulah councillor Lyndon Lloyd warned that any future attempt to forge closer links between Ceredigion and Powys that could see a change in south Ceredigion’s relationship with Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire could see residents in the south insist on splitting the county, although he insisted Ceredigion should be retained as a separate authority that could work in partnership with neighbouring authorities.

He said: “We have to, as Ceredigion, remain as a county council or we are going to be split. Some people in the south of the county have said to me that if we were to go with Powys they would ask for a referendum for the south of the county to go with Pembrokeshire or Carmarthenshire.

“I suggest that we do stand and that whoever responds to the Assembly now says, strongly, that we want to remain as Ceredigion, but we’re willing to work with Powys, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Swansea.”

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