A DECISION to home refugees from war-torn Syria in Aberystwyth has sparked calls for more to be done to help find places for local homeless people, including war veterans.

Ceredigion council has announced plans to find accommodation for refugees in around half a dozen empty properties by Christmas.

But Aberystwyth town councillors, discussing the news first revealed in the Cambrian News, said that the county should also be helping its own at-need residents.

Former mayor Cllr Brenda Haines told members: “I applaud that we will be welcoming refugees, however I would like to see Ceredigion giving homes to our homeless and disabled veterans.

“Many people are telling me ‘why don’t they look after the homeless people here in Ceredigion first?’”

Ceredigion council announced last month that around a dozen refugees will arrive in Aberystwyth in time for Christmas, after initially saying the county lacked the infrastructure to house them.