IT is one of the world's most protected areas - but its worried guardians say Gwent's World Heritage Site is in danger of disappearing beneath mountains of litter.

Council, police and countryside leaders are concerned that litterbugs are dumping rubbish at the World Heritage Site of Blaenavon and its surrounding area.

Now they have banded together in a bid to stamp out the litter menace.

And police are warning anyone caught dumping waste or dropping litter at Gwent's World Heritage Site will face prosecution.

Torfaen and Monmouthshire councils, the Brecon Beacons National Park and Gwent Police say they will not tolerate litter and household goods being dumped in and around Blaenavon, recently awarded World Heritage status for its industrial heritage.

Brecon Beacons National Park Warden Clive Williams claimed Blaenavon and villages such as Llanfoist and Govilon near Abergavenny were all suffering.

He told the Argus: "Workmen and people who have cleaned their houses dump waste on the mountains instead of paying to dispose of it at a waste disposal area."

To cut the litter problem, workers from Torfaen and Monmouthshire councils, Brecon Beacons National Park and Gwent Police are to regularly patrol the main access roads and also by-roads.

Mr Williams said: "The situation worsens at the weekends and a lot of it happens at night. A huge amount of effort is needed to keep it tidy. In the past we have worked with Monmouthshire local authority to remove large amounts of rubbish.

"The law states that 'it is an offence to throw down, drop, otherwise deposit in, into or from any place specified by the act and leave anything whatsoever to cause or contribute to or tend to lead to defacement by litter of any such place'."

Gwent police say anyone caught using the areas as an unofficial dustbin will be prosecuted.

Officers say cases must be highlighted as a deterrent to other would-be offenders.

* In the picture: Brecon Beacons National Park warden Clive Williams checks for identification clues in rubbish dumped at Pwll Ddu, near Blaenavon