Welsh councils should not be "left behind" when it comes to further devolution, Wales' most senior councillor has warned.

Anthony Hunt, leader of the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA), said council involvement would be "essential" to grow Wales' economy.

His comments came after Prime Minister Andy Burnham's pledge to devolve more power to English regions.

Hunt said that in the past there had been a tendency to equate devolution with more powers for Cardiff Bay rather than for Wales' own regions.

The Welsh government has been asked to comment.

The WLGA represents all of Wales' 22 local authorities.

"I would not want the prime minister to circumvent the Welsh government, but devolution to Wales should not just be about Welsh government," said Hunt, who is also Labour leader of Torfaen council.

"I have always been emphatic that Wales is a nation of regions and there is a huge opportunity if all three levels of government [UK ministers, Welsh ministers and councils] can discuss how best to devolve power to communities," the leader said.

Hunt added that he believed devolution and decisions should be taken as close to the point of delivery as possible.

The prime minister has already spoken about his wish for "deeper devolution" to Welsh councils.

One potential plan involving more control over research and development funding drew criticism from the Welsh government, which has been run by Plaid Cymru since May's Senedd election.

Local government is controlled by ministers in Cardiff Bay rather than those at Westminster.

Burnham has since said the UK government should not tell Welsh ministers how to run devolved services.

Hunt said there "was a conversation to be had" about devolving more economic development and growth to councils and that he did not want to be "left behind" compared to local authorities over the border.

Wales' 22 councils are braced for a tight budget settlement when the Welsh government presents its annual spending plans later this autumn, which could mean cuts to services and council tax rises.

A separate set of additional spending, which failed to pass the Senedd in July because of a row over money for pupils with additional learning needs, is yet to be approved.