UP to 71 jobs could be created if ambitious plans for a cable car system in Risca become a reality, a councillor says.

In July, the Argus exclusively revealed plans to transform the Valleys town into a tourist mecca - with the cable car system ferrying people to the top of Twmbarlwm mountain.

The scheme could also include a hotel, a skate-park, tennis courts and a caf on top of the mountain, as well as a paddle-boat marina and a children's centre.

Risca councillor Keith Griffiths said this week that he has spoken to Andrew Pugh, a director of the Heights of Abraham Cable Car Scheme, in Matlock, Derbyshire.

And he said he was told around 71 jobs could be created by the proposed scheme for Risca.

"We learnt the Matlock development attracted more than 217,000 visitors, and bookings for 2004 were on target to exceed that figure," said Councillor Griffiths.

"We also learned that the associated tourist attractions proved very successful. The director told us that success was not confined to their business - it proved to be a lifeline to local businesses and industry over a wide area of Derbyshire."

Councillor Griffiths and other Risca councillors and council officers have met international company Poma Lift GB Limited, which has built gondola systems all over the world, to discuss constructing a cable car.

The company approached the councillors after a report on the plans appeared in the Argus in the summer.

Councillor Griffiths added engineers had now surveyed the possibility of a cable car lift in Risca, and they had been told it was "a scheme of great vision".