CEREDIGION could become the first county in Wales to have a directly-elected mayor after campaigners yesterday won a first-round victory.

Pressure group Llais y Cardi collected enough names in a petition to force a referendum on the issue.

And they believe the idea could spread "like wildfire" through local authorities across Wales.

Yesterday, the group presented Ceredigion County Council with a petition signed by 8,474 voters, all backing the call for a referendum.

They only needed 5,306 names to meet government guidelines, which state that 10% of the county's population must sign to force a referendum.

If the petition is genuine then a referendum will have to take place by law, probably next March before a mayoral vote in the summer.

Petition organiser Emyr Howell said, "The council knows the public disagree with their policies but are just not listening."

Another member, Gwilym ap Ioan, said, "Collecting names was easy, showing how unhappy people are with the current system in Ceredigion.

"But this is not just another petition being handed in to the council - it is history in the making.

"Ceredigion will be the first county to taste fresh and open democracy, the first to take a step in a democratic revolution which could spread like wildfire to other counties."

But the petition must first be verified to make sure that the names are genuine.

Ceredigion's chief executive, Owen Watkin, said, "We have got one month to check the names against the electoral register."