A community-owned pub in the Aeron Valley has congratulated Welsh actor and part owner, Matthew Rhys, on his double Emmy win.

The Cardiff-born actor with strong family ties to Pennal near Machynlleth, became the first person to win two leading acting prizes in one night at the glitzy Los Angeles event on Monday night.

Matthew, 51, won Emmys for best lead actor in a limited series for his role in the Netflix psychological thriller The Beast in Me and best lead comedy actor award for Apple TV’s Widow’s Bay.

Taking to social media, Tafarn y Vale in Felinfach wrote: "Congratulations to Matthew Rhys, a shareholder at Tafarn y Vale on his amazing success at the Emmys last night!

"Fingers crossed that we’ll have a photo like this of the Darts team captain at the end of the season," accompanied by a photo of Matthew Rhys kissing one of his Emmys.

Matthew dedicated his second award "to the great and good people of Wales, who were as much a nurture as anyone else".

"We are a small but mighty nation. This is incredible," he said, adding "Diolch yn fawr iawn."

Glan yr Afon Matthew Rhys
Matthew Rhys enjoying a pint in the Glan yr Afon pub in Pennal (Menter y Glan)

Matthew also helped another pub campaign in mid Wales, backing a community venture in Pennal to buy Glan yr Afon or Riverside and saving the venue from closure.

Speaking at the time, Matthew Rhys said: “I have strong personal ties with the Pennal area and believe that this venture is hugely important in helping to safeguard the community’s­ future.

“It is wonderful to see people taking responsibility and ownership for their communities in these challenging times and I wish them well in their endeavours.”

Speaking to media after the awards on Monday night, Matthew said: "I'm from a small country, and I'm glad we get moments to kind of put our flag on the map and say, 'we punch higher than our weight sometimes'."