PRESSURE to reprieve two historic ponds is being piled on a Gwent council after steel company Corus announced its intention to drain them by the end of this month.

Black Pond and Boat Pond at Beaufort, near Ebbw Vale, were created as reservoirs for the Nantyglo Iron Works in the middle of the 19th century before passing to British Steel and ultimately to Corus.

Following the closure of Ebbw Vale steelworks a year ago, Corus no longer needs the ponds which, together with nearby woodlands, have become a haven for water fowl, mammals such as bats, and a variety of rare insects, wild grasses and sedges.

As the March 31 deadline for drainage approaches a public meeting in the village's Welfare Hall will push the case for reprieve.

"Blaenau Gwent has said that it will take the ponds over but we are terribly worried that nothing will happen before the March 31 deadline," said Rex Herbert, of Waundew, Beaufort, chairman of an action group pledged to saving the ponds.

"Our concern is that with pressures on the council's budget our ponds and three others in the immediate locality will be moved further down the list.

"I remain convinced that the council wants to save these ponds but the minutes are ticking away.

"Corus plans to literally pull the plug at the end of this month."

Mr Herbert - who was a councillor on Ebbw Vale Urban District Council and Blaenau Gwent council for more than 50 years - said the ponds, more usually known as the Upper and Lower ponds, are part of the area's history.

"They are intimately bound up with the making of steel and have been part of the landscape for 200 years. Draining them would be a disaster for wildlife and would remove a local amenity."

Campaigner Rosemary Moreton, whose house in Highlands Road, Beaufort, is only 50 yards from Lower Pond, said rare black swans had been spotted on the pond which was a refuge for storm-tossed water birds.