PRIME minister Rishi Sunak has said he will still be calling Bannau Brycheiniog the Brecon Beacons.

Mr Sunak said that he would still be calling the area the Brecon Beacons and that he thought "most people" would too.

He praised the park for being "an internationally renowned place to visit" and that it attracts visitors from all around the world" and that people across the UK were proud of the site.

The world famous national park changed its name earlier this month to promote the area's culture and heritage.

The park’s chief executive Catherine Mealing-Jones told PA news agency: "We looked into it we realised the brand we’ve got and the name we’ve got, it’s a bit of a nonsense, it doesn’t really make any sense – the translation Brecon Beacons doesn’t really mean anything in Welsh.

“We’d always had the name Bannau Brycheiniog as the Welsh translation and we just felt we needed to put that front and centre as an expression about the new way we wanted to be celebrating Welsh people, Welsh culture, Welsh food, Welsh farming – all of the things that need to come with us as we go through this change in the management plan.”

Mr Sunak's comments come after strong criticism of the name change by Welsh Conservative politicians.

MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, Fay Jones said: “I’m amazed that a change of name should be imposed on those who live and work in the National Park without any consultation.”

“I am worried that this is symbolic. This is about looking trendy and jumping on a sustainability bandwagon for PR purposes.”

Leader of the Conservatives in Wales Andrew RT Davies voiced his opposition and said the name change would "undermine" the parks brand internationally.

The renaming of the park took place earlier this month with a video from actor Michael Sheen who said it was “reclamation of the old Welsh name – an old name for a new way of being.”