WORK got under way yesterday on Blackwood's controversial Sirhowy Enterprise Way, after the contract was signed this week.

On Monday residents staged a last protest to say farewell to trees in The Dingle - part of St David's Wood - which will be demolished to make way for the two-mile road.

But work is now in progress on the 27-month scheme that Caerphilly council says will help breathe new life back into Blackwood and Oakdale. The road has been planned for more than ten years. Work on felling the trees has not yet started.

Demonstrators included Irene and John Jones, parents of the Manic Street Preachers' Nicky Wire, Nicky's brother, poet Patrick Jones, residents Ken Davies and Pam and Carl Taylor, and Blackwood councillor Kevin Etheridge.

They pinned protest poems to the trees, while an emotional Mrs Jones laid a bunch of flowers next to one of the oak trees to be felled. "I feel I have failed them," she told the Argus.

The company that signed the contract is Sirhowy Enterprise Ltd, with Costsain Engineering and Construction Ltd and Laing Roads Ltd as equal partners.

They will design, build, finance and operate the road through a £55 million Private Finance Initiative, funded by the Welsh Assembly and the council. Cabinet member John Taylor welcomed the start of the work.

"We are delighted to see the scheme get under way," he said. "The completion of the Sirhowy Enterprise Way will bring huge benefits to the economy of the area, as the construction of the road is crucial to the full development of Oakdale Business Park."

Council leader Lindsay Whittle said: "We believe that this new road will transform the area's economy.

"The authority has been driving the project forward for a number of years, so we are delighted."

Consortium leader Adam Wilson added: "We look forward to forging a strong relationship with the council, to our mutual benefit, and that of the people in the area for many years to come."