WELSH house names should no longer be changed into English, supporters of a petition debated in the Senedd this week have said.

More than 18,000 people – including nearly 1,000 from Gwent – backed a petition calling on Welsh ministers to stop "new owners" changing their house names into English.

The petition's creator said there was "a pattern throughout Wales" of house names being Anglicised.

"Little by little, the country is losing its heritage," the petition read. "This must be stopped for the sake of future generations, whatever their language."

Most of the petition's supporters were based in North Wales or in Mid and West Wales.

Petitions committee chairwoman Janet Finch-Saunders said the number of people who signed the petition "demonstrates how many people feel strongly about this issue, and about the protection of Welsh language and heritage more widely".

She said on a national scale, protections already existed for cities, towns and villages – where local authorities have responsibilities to preserve historic Welsh place names.

But protecting individual properties was "likely to be more difficult in practice," she said.

MS Dai Lloyd, who has previously campaigned in the Senedd for more protections of historic Welsh place names, said the Welsh Government could do more to protect the names of individual properties.

"We know that, across Wales, names of historic farmhouses and homes are being lost," he said. "Losing these names means that we are losing part of our local and national heritage."

He suggested residents could be made to obtain legal consent from local authorities if they wanted to change the name of a house.

Welsh language minister Eluned Morgan said she sympathised with Mr Lloyd's concerns, and highlighted "practical problems" with the current rules.

"The fact is that people have a right to name their homes, for better or for worse," she said. "Anyone can put a plaque on their home without informing the local authority, if that home has a street number.

"But I do think that naming a house against the will of the local populace can feel like actually cutting that tie between ourselves and our community."

She said there was also nothing to stop a new owner putting up a different sign on their property, even if the name of the place was not officially changed.

"We do just have to be aware that there are practical problems in this area, but I'm quite happy to work to see if it's possible for us to tighten up in this area," Ms Morgan told the Senedd.