A Welsh council put the English Heritage logo on a tourist sign by mistake.

Neath Port Talbot Council has apologised for using the emblem on its new brown tourist signs in Pontardawe – and has since blanked it out.

The local authority had placed the emblem alongside the Pontardawe Heritage and Visitor Centre.

Ward councillor Linet Purcell (Plaid Cymru) said the use of the logo was insensitive.

She said: “A group of dedicated volunteers have been working on the centre for years and years.

“It’s only been open for about a year – it’s an absolute treasure trove of recent industrial heritage.

“People are very proud of it so for the council to then use an English Heritage sign to advertise it is just insensitive.

“People are annoyed.

“Budgets are so tight as they are – the brown signs are very welcome but they need to get them right.”

Councillor Anthony John Richards who also represents Pontardawe on the local authority said while the town was thrilled to have some tourism signs, residents were unhappy with the English Heritage emblem being used.

He said he understood the council wanted to use a heritage logo and had told him it was the only sign available.

He said: “We were initially told by the council that the symbol was a generic heritage symbol shown in the traffic signs regulations.

“I responded stating that the logo design was made to represent an “E” for England and asked what evidence there was to suggest that the logo was generic to both England and Wales?

“The council then said there was a conflict between the highway sign regulations and the supporting software package they used.

“It used the logo that was identified for use as a heritage site but is in fact only to be used for English Heritage-owned sites.

“They have apologised and have arranged for the logos to be blanked as soon as possible while they sort out the issue.”

A council spokesman said: “We would like to apologise for an error which occurred on new brown tourism signage which was recently installed near Pontardawe.

“We have established that there is a conflict between the ‘Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions’ and the supporting software package that the council uses to support the design of signs. 

“The signs have already been rectified and the symbol has been blanked over at a cost of £75 in total for all three signs in question.”