A RARE vintage toy has been found in a tip in Monmouthshire.

Suez, waste and recycling contractors who work with Monmouthshire County Council, saved the toy from heading to the tip after they realised it was a rare Mickey Mouse from the 1930s.

South Wales Argus:

There is another Gwent connection to the toy – as research showed that Mickey was made at the Deans toy factory in Pontypool – the first manufacturer to make a Disney character in the UK.

The toy – which has an almost identical version in the V&A Museum in London – depicts Mickey in his debut 1928 Steamboat Willie film. It will now be housed in Pontypool Museum, which is less than a mile from the Dean’s factory that made it almost a century ago.

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Cllr Jane Pratt, cabinet member for neighbourhood services for Monmouthshire Council Council, said: “I think it’s wonderful that Mickey has, after his very long life, been saved from the rubbish.

South Wales Argus:

“I am so pleased that he is being donated to Pontypool Museum near to where he was made at Deans Rag Book Company. I hope the publicity he creates will encourage people to think carefully before they throw things away. I am delighted that he will be viewed by generations to come in his new home.”

Pontypool Museum curator, Caitlin Gingell, said: “The curatorial staff are very pleased to be acquiring Mickey into the collections at Torfaen Museum. Dean’s toy factory, where Mickey was made, has been an important strand of Pontypool’s history and it is lovely to be bringing him back to his hometown.

“We hope that Mickey can go to a professional conservator in the near future to be cleaned and structurally supported before going on display as part of a small exhibition about the toy manufacturer.

Deans Rag Book Company dates back to the 1700s but went into administration in 2005.