NEWPORT council is not doing enough to attract funding to turn its medieval ship and other historical finds into a "major tourist attraction", a former cabinet member has claimed.

The council and the National Assembly announced a £3.5 million deal last August that will see the ship housed in a subterranean museum beneath the new theatre and arts centre.

But Labour councillor for Rogerstone and former cabinet member, Ernie Watkins, said: "As a solution the arts centre is as good as any, but I think we need to be making greater efforts to attract funding.

"I certainly think the ship should be housed along with the other ships that have been found in the area in the last decade. It could be a major tourist attraction.

"You only need to go to Portsmouth and look at the queues to see the Mary Rose and this is older than that.

"What I wouldn't want to see is any Newport ship displayed outside of Newport. "I'd like to see a maritime museum, but that's a bit of a wish.

"As there's so much interest from around the world, why can't we attract funding from around the world?

"We don't seem to make the most of what we've got. "The economy is not only about people earning to spend money, but attracting people in to spend money."

There are already plans for a maritime museum of Wales in Swansea which would cost £28 million.

Work is expected to start this year and the project has already secured funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Europe.

But Conservative Newport councillor William Graham said: "If, as advice indicates, we are able to recover the entire remains of the Newport ship, it would mean that the already reduced space for the display of this important artefact will be quite inadequate.

"There are fears that this will mean that only the carvel will be displayed, showing the inner skin with the mast step and knees of the vessel without display of the clinker-built outer hull, without ribs and without the keel."

He proposed that a Welsh early ship museum should be created in Newport.