A Ceredigion AM has backed the bid to relocate S4C’s headquarters in west Wales.

With Aberystwyth no longer in contention for the move, AM Elin Jones has written to support the bid to establish the channel’s HQ in Carmarthen. The bid is being led by the University of Wales Trinity St David’s, based in Carmarthen and Lampeter.

Elin Jones said: "I have been a consistent supporter of locating public bodies throughout Wales. The establishment of a Welsh Government Office in Aberystwyth was a major step forward in achieving this. Although Ceredigion isn’t under consideration as a location for S4C’s main base, I believe there would be significant advantages in locating it in Carmarthen.

“S4C would be an economic catalyst for the whole region by creating new jobs and micro-businesses in such areas as the creative industries, and could be a boost for the university campus at Lampeter. Such a move would also serve to maintain the identity of the Channel in the long term and ensure that it can act as a catalyst for the revival of the language in an area that has seen the biggest fall in the number of Welsh speakers in the 2011 Census. It is clear that maintaining and promoting the language as a living language in the south west is essential to any national language strategy and the possible relocation of S4C could act as a catalyst for raising its status across the county and beyond.

“The channel would be able to take advantage of the infrastructure of a connected higher education institution that has campuses across the south west. Through its Colleges of Further Education, the University has campuses in Aberystwyth and Cardigan, as well as its university establishments at Lampeter and Carmarthen.”