NEWPORT Indoor Bowls Centre is now a landmark facility for the city ranking alongside the velodrome and the sports village, said a civic leader.

Deputy mayor Cllr Mark Whitcutt officially opened the centre at the Glebelands which has undergone extensive refurbishment work.

It was closed following flooding but the city council and Newport Indoor Bowling Association worked together to ensure the centre was completely fit-for-purpose once again.

Now the bowls centre has new carpets throughout and boasts a new blue carpet, the first of its kind in Wales, and electronic scoreboards.

Cllr Whitcutt, together with his deputy mayoress, Deb Jones, bowled the first woods on the new service.

He described the facility as a "landmark sporting facility for Newport ranking alongside the Newport Velodrome and the Sports Village".

Cllr Whitcutt hoped that the people of Newport would enjoy using such a fantastic facility.