A BATTERED old telephone, which lay undiscovered in the muddy banks of the River Usk for years, will have pride of place in a special display.

For the wind-up Bakelite phone - which went missing more than 25 years ago - is one part of a unique pair used on the historic Transporter Bridge.

It was unearthed by Morgan Vinci engineers working on the city's new Southern Distributor Road, at buildings on the banks of the River Usk.

Now the phone will be exhibited alongside its twin at the Transporter Bridge Visitor Centre, Usk Way, Newport, on the city side of the bridge.

Morgan Vinci Ltd Newport SDR project manager Peter Frood said: "A foreman working for the demolition sub-contractor found the telephone when work was being carried out on buildings at Mill Parade.

"He knew it was important as it looked old, and brought it to us. I have kept it in my filing cabinet ever since. We contacted Newport City Council and they were very interested in our find."

A spokeswoman for Newport City Council said the old telephone had disappeared over a quarter of a century ago.

She added: "No one had a clue where it was but we are delighted that it has now been re-discovered."

The council's museum department has no idea why the wind-up telephone, which works along the lines of similar military equipment, went missing.

It was used for communicating between the gondola of the Transporter Bridge and the engineers who worked on the top of the bridge structure. The communications link was in place since the bridge was built in 1906.

Glyn Jarvis, cabinet member for culture and recreation at Newport, said: "The phone is a piece of Newport's history and our thanks go to the vigilant employees at Morgan Vinci who came across it and had the foresight to contact the museum. We hope to restore the phone to working order and to display it with other artefacts at the Transporter Bridge visitor centre.''