NEWPORT could benefit if Cardiff wins its bid to become European Capital of Culture in 2008.

The city's bid was announced this week, with a pledge that meetings would be held throughout Wales to get the support of Welsh arts, cultural and sporting organisations.

Newport council has already received a report stating that major cultural and showbusiness events in Cardiff could have a spin-off for the town worth an estimated £20 million a year.

The town is reaping the benefits through increased visitor numbers, with tourists using Newport as a base to attend Cardiff attractions and spending money in the town. If Cardiff wins, it will mean a year-long celebration in 2008 likely to involve the kind of events highlighted in the Newport report.

Welsh Secretary and Torfaen MP Paul Murphy (pictured) has urged Gwent arts and culture organisations to back Cardiff's bid.

He said: "While our capital city spearheads the bid, it needs a groundswell of support behind it from the rest of Wales to succeed. I am delighted that regional meetings are being held shortly to attract the best in Wales, and that Cardiff council and the National Assembly are jointly funding the bid."

The Assembly has agreed to match the £500,000 that the council is investing in the bid. Announcing the bid, Cardiff Lord Mayor Russell Goodway said: "I am determined that bodies representing cultural life throughout the whole of Wales should have the opportunity to become stakeholders in this enterprise, and that wide-ranging communities should share in the potential benefits."

One of the regional meetings planned for the next six months is likely to take place in Newport.

The lord mayor said 2008 would be a major opportunity to showcase the cultural wealth of the whole of Wales.

A celebrity launch will take place in Cardiff before the bid's official launch in March 2002. The European Council has designated a city each year for the title European Capital of Culture.

It is a UK city's turn to compete for the title in 2008, and the successful UK bidder is due to be announced by spring 2003. Glasgow represented the UK in 1990. Newcastle/Gateshead, Birmingham and Liverpool are also bidding.