A DRAWING depicting the last days of Ebbw Vale steelworks has been bought for the local community.

Blaenau Gwent councillors have agreed to buy the charcoal drawing entitled The Final Corus.

The cost of £200, which will be donated to the Hospice of the Valleys, will be met from the budgets of mayor Councillor David Wilkshire and council leader John Hopkins.

The work has already been on display at the civic centre in Ebbw Vale, as part of an exhibition to raise funds for the hospice, and will now go on display permanently. The Final Corus was donated to the hospice by local artist Maz Winstanley, who has lived in Brynmawr, Beaufort and Ebbw Vale and now lives in Abergavenny.

Councillor Wilkshire said: "The Final Corus will be a reminder to future generations in Blaenau Gwent of the steelmaking community and of our industrial heritage. "Generations of families depended on these steelworks and some people gave their lives.

"Now that it is no longer with us, we believe there is a need for a permanent reminder of the important role it played in forging our communities."

The steelworks closed in July, after more than 200 years of steelmaking in Ebbw Vale.