STAFF at Chepstow's Tourist Information Centre are being praised for their efforts to promote the town during the summer.

In an innovative scheme to attract visitors to the county, Veronica Crump and Jan Finnis decided to dress up and give guided tours of the historic town on their days off.

Debra Haylock, Monmouthshire county council's tourism officer praised the two women, saying the success of the tours was "very much down to them".

She said: "They were well equipped with knowledge of the town and were not shy about dressing up.

"They are very experienced at working with visitors. We were incredibly pleased with the way it went. Even on rainy days they had tours."

From the Spring Bank Holiday to the August Bank Holiday every Thursday and Sunday and Bank Holiday the two women played the part of Puritan and Royalist supporters.

The women, who both live in Bulwark, designed and made the first costumes they wore but later sought out a dressmaker for their costumes.

Mrs Crump, 59, said: "The reason we did the tours was because all the long distance foot paths were closed because of foot and mouth. We did it as an experiment.

"It was lovely to go out and talk about the town. We enjoyed it and it was a good thing for Chepstow.

"It was also good for people visiting Chepstow who wanted something different. It was interesting for us because we were selling the town and the TIC."

The two women undertook further research on the town so that they could give visitors a real sense of what the town was like in different periods of history.

They had to memorise detailed histories of the local church, castle, streets and buildings.

Mrs Crump, of Raglan Way, said she and Mrs Finnis, of Sharpes Way, used to rotate the two-hour free tours and if necessary brought in other volunteers.

She said: "We did it in rotation because of manning the TIC. If we had a large group visiting we roped in other people who knew Chepstow."

Mrs Crump said the response to the tours had been "unbelievable" and some coach operators even telephoned in advance to see if a tour was being conducted on the day of their visit.

Mrs Crump said that they tried to avoid giving too many dates of events as some people would not appreciate their significance.

She said: "We would like to do it again because it sold Chepstow. It was a learning curve for us."