A BETWS councillor would like to like to see some form of memorial to Betws Colliery in Maesquarre Road – possibly in the form of a plaque.

Cllr Rhydian Murray said an arch containing an old piece of equipment close to the site of the old mine was the only evidence a colliery which had once employed hundreds of men had ever existed.

"I can tell you that piece of equipment is an old cutting tool because I worked there myself," he told colleagues. "There should be some explanation as to what it is.

"There should be some form of memorial – when you talk about the old pit people want to know what this piece of equipment is."

Cllr June Gunther said she thought the tool actually came from Abernant Colliery in Cwmgors, although it was typical of the type also used in Betws.

Cllr Annette Price said the commemorative garden in Betws Park was set up in tribute to those who had lost their lives in industry as well as to the fallen of two world wars.

Alderman Arnallt James said Llandybie councillors were keen to remember the village's Pencae Colliery and suggested that Betws could perhaps follow their lead.

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Anne Sizmur said she hoped her colleagues would agree to donate a plaque. "People must wonder what on earth that mysterious object is," she said.

"Nobody would know what it is unless they had worked down a mine themselves."