In a secret meeting with councillors on Friday, Ceredigion County Council chief executive Eifion Evans, said that both Coleg Ceredigion sites in Aberystwyth and Cardigan are likely to close.

Ceredigion County Council announced on Friday morning a deal with University of Wales Trinity Saint David to create a post-16 vocational education centre at the site of Lampeter’s university.

The campus will offer ‘skills-based courses critical to the rural economy of Wales, such as agriculture, horticulture, gastronomy and construction’ the council says.

It has also secured a loan to purchase a farm which backs on to the Lampeter campus, valued at £1.85 million to run agricultural courses.

Councillors attended a behind-closed-doors meeting with the Chief Executive on Friday afternoon after the news had been announced.

A source who was at the meeting told the Cambrian News that Eifion Evans said UWTSD, which also runs the Coleg Ceredigion sites, intends to close both the Aberystwyth and Cardigan sites in the next year.

He added that the Lampeter campus was needed to ensure the future of vocational education in the county.

Councillors were also told the Lampeter campus is expected to attract 1,000 students a year.

The Aberystwyth site currently offers culinary courses, while Cardigan offers construction courses.

The Cambrian News has asked UWTSD and Ceredigion County Council for comment.