A FORMAL decision to host the Royal National Eisteddfod of Wales at Newport in three years looked likely to be taken today.

Newport council's policy-making Cabinet was meeting to recommend that the town hosts the 2004 event at a cost of £500,000. At the same time it was considering how to find this money.

A decision to host the eisteddfod, last held in Newport in the late 1980s, needs to be with the National Eisteddfod Council by the end of this month.

It now looks as though most of the physical problems have been overcome. The major one was staging the event at Tredegar House at the same time as a £13m revamp of the nearby M4 Tredegar Park roundabout was under way.

This is now likely to be put back to September after the summer eisteddfod ends. The council would have to contribute £330,000 to the eisteddfod. Other internal costs amount to £116,000. A further contingency sum of £54,000 would take the cost to £500,000 to allow for a park-and-ride system.

Joyce Steven, the council's head of finance and security, said there was no budget for this in the council's accounts.