Leaders of Carmarthenshire Council have assured demonstrators that there will be a Welsh-speaking interim director of education for the county.

There has still been no formal decision on the post from the council's ratification committee, which was delayed by protest for more than an hour and a half on Monday.

Last week members agreed to delay the appointment of a director who did not speak Welsh following demonstrations from an action group.

The authority - in an area with the largest number of Welsh speakers in Wales - originally appointed former director of education for Kensington and Chelsea Michael Stoten, having rejected six Welsh-speaking candidates.

Now the Welsh Language Board is carrying out an inquiry to establish whether the council was in breach of the Welsh Language Act.

But following protests last week, councillors pleaded for suitably qualified people to come forward.

Since then, at least one new name has entered the frame.

John Ellis, who was director of education for Dyfed until 1996, says he is prepared to consider an invitation to apply.

But that might depend on what happens to the current education director Keith Davies - still the candidate preferred by many including the teaching unions.

If there is no agreement on a new Welsh-speaking candidate, councillors could proceed with their original plan and offer the job to Mr Stoten.