AN ENORMOUS sculpture could welcome visitors approaching Wales from across the Severn if ministers back calls for a Welsh equivalent to the Angel of the North.

The region's tourism partnership says a piece of public art, perhaps a sculpture of a dragon, will help assert Wales' identity.

A report commissioned by Capital Region Tourism into the idea concluded "the timing of such a project sits very comfortably with the Welsh Assembly's increasing independence from Westminster" but points out a sculpture will only be successful if it is prominent.

Possible 'national gateway' and 'landmark' sites include the Severn estuary, Taff's Well, Wilcrick Hill, Brynglas, the Cefncoed viaduct at Merthyr Tydfil and the junction of the A4060 and the A465 Heads of the Valleys Road.

Peter Cole, a director of Capital Region Tourism, said: "About a year ago one of our directors felt we should be trying to mark the entrance to Wales and experts looked at all the sites, the scale of the plan, the cost and drew up a list of artists.

"We are meeting with Andrew Davis, the minister for economic development and transport, and Alan Pugh, the culture minister, on May 24 to discuss this.

"There are obvious parallels with the Angel of North which has transformed people's view of the North East of England and this project is about creating an eye-catching image that looks forward as much as to the past."

John Griffiths, AM for Newport East, has backed calls for the dragon sculpture to be in Gwent.

He said: "South East Wales has a great cultural heritage. One initiative proposed to celebrate this is a monument, in a similar vein to the Angel of the North, that will greet people as they enter Wales.

"It might be located, for example, on the Gwent Levels near the second Severn crossing and could take the form of a giant, steel, fire-breathing dragon, or something more modern and abstract.

"All that is there at the moment is a plain, brown sign saying 'Welcome to Wales'. It is often the case that public art projects at the conception stage attract criticism but, once they are built, people begin to take pride in them."