Carmarthenshire County Council has come under fire for stopping the public attending meetings of a panel set up to strengthen use of the Welsh language in the county.

Cymdeithas yr Iaith, the Welsh language society, picketed County Hall on Wednesday to highlight dissatisfaction over the decision to hold the meetings behind closed doors.

Following the release of the 2011 Census results, councillors passed a new language policy recommending the council worked internally in Welsh and ensured all schools teach at least partly in Welsh.

Following the launch of the policy and the creation of an Advisory Panel on the use of Welsh, the society announced it had appointed more than 50 barcudiaid - eagle eyes - to monitor implementation.

However, the decision to allow the panel to exclude the public from its meetings has infuriated society members.

Amy Jones, Vice-Chair of Cymdeithas yr Iaith in Carmarthen said: "How can we keep an eye and make sure that the Welsh language is given the priority and fairness, if the meetings are not open to the public?

"We have worked with the council over the past few months and have heard that things are moving forward, but to ensure this continues we're keen that these meetings are open to the public, so we can keep an eagle eye on the council's work.

"We have asked panel members to change the system so that the meetings can be held openly and have had promising responses and hope to see changes.”