ANYONE wanting to close a Ceredigion road for a rally stage will now have to pay more than £4,000.

Cabinet approved administration fees of £3,600 plus £900 per rally stage at its meeting on Tuesday. January 22.

Cabinet member for highways and environmental services Cllr Dafydd Edwards told the meeting that new legislation in 2017 allowed road racing with council approval.

It came into force in February 2018 and it was recommended to cabinet that Ceredigion County Council adopt charges for events held under this regulation “that reflect the impact on the highway network and will recover the full value of a service the council is providing from the service user, instead of the taxpayer.”

The first closed road stage rally – the Rali Bae Ceredigion Cardigan Bay Rally – is due to be held in September, organised by three local motor clubs – the Aberystwyth and District, Lampeter and District and Newtown and District Motor Clubs, with the possibility of the Teifi Valley MC also getting involved.

The Tivyside Advertiser previously reported that the event had the backing of the Motorsport Association (MSA) and hoped to start from Aberystwyth University.

It is not yet known if the new charges will have an impact.