A new dairy opening in Whitland is set to give the area a jobs boost as well as making sure that farmers in the area are given a fresh crack of the whip.

The Proper Welsh Milk Company secured funding of £1.4 million from Finance Wales and farming co-operative Calon Wen to build the dairy at the ex-Dairy Crest Whitland creamery site just off Whitland's Spring Gardens.

With 10 full-time and four part-time jobs created at the facility, it is hoped that the facility, which will process milk from Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, will create up to as many as 60 jobs within five years.

Proper Welsh Milk said the rising cost of fuel meant it made more economic sense for milk produced in Wales to be processed in Wales.

The company plans for the dairy to have a 14,000 litre milk tanker visiting every two days.

Proper Welsh Milk Company Ltd sales and marketing director Richard Arnold explained that the closure of the Bridgend creamery two years ago, meant that most of the major milk processing in South Wales was lost.

"I don't think consumers realise that they may be buying a product that says it's Welsh milk and have a dragon on the label, but they'd be surprised to know that it's coming from over the bridge," he said.

"At the new plant in Whitland, we're trying to bring milk in from suppliers from no more than a 20-mile radius.

"Milk can be processed here in the morning and be delivered straight from Whitland straight on to the shelves of supermarkets within a 24-hour period."

The Dairy Crest creamery at Whitland closed back in 1994 with 150 job losses.

With 10-million litres set to be processed a year from the new plant, which is due to open at the beginning of next month, Richard says that there is plenty of room for the plant to expand.

"We see this as a chance to retain and create jobs and give farmers in this area a fresh crack of the whip," he added.