BETWS community councillors have been warned they could face legal action if they persist in “attributing wrongful comments” to local MP Jonathan Edwards.

They have had their knuckles rapped after Plaid Cymru’s Carmarthenshire East and Dinefwr MP took exception to a recent Guardian article relating to the controversial Mynydd y Betws windfarm.

In it Alderman Arnallt James questioned Mr Edwards’ knowledge of Betws Mountain while Cllr Maldwyn John said AM Rhodri Glyn Thomas should have visited the windfarm site prior to raising a question about it in the Senedd.

But in a letter to the council, Mr Edwards said that – contrary to claims made at last month’s meeting – he had never called for rumours about the presence of an underground dam to be investigated.

“May I remind you that, unlike Parliament, community councils are not covered by Parliamentary privilege and that if any more remarks of this nature are made I will have to resort to legal action,” he added.

A somewhat bemused Cllr John remarked: “What about freedom of speech?”

But he added amid laughter: “I’ll be more than happy to speak to Jonathan – he used to sit next to me at the Gymanfa Ganu and I taught him all the words to the hymns!”

However, Cllr Annette Price said she had “not been comfortable at all” with some of the comments made during the previous debate.

And when Alderman James insisted he had never mentioned Mr Edwards, she replied: “I’m sorry, Alderman James, but you did.”

She added: “We cannot go on like this – we just cannot keep having this sort of negativity all the time.”

Cllr June Gunter said the council was “no place for party politics”, adding: “We should all remember that we are here for the good of the people of Betws – we should be apolitical.”