IDENTIFYING crucial safety work is the first step to restoring a stretch of Gwent canal, councillors have heard.

Caerphilly council decided last month to rebuild the nine-mile section of the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal which flows through Risca, at a cost of between £3 million and £11 million.

Now a local councillor is calling for regular updates on how far the scheme is progressing.

Before making a decision, the authority had been considering three options for the canal. They were:

Option one: to rebuild the entire length of the canal, costing between £3 million and £11 million.

Option two: to fill in the whole canal, costing around £1.1 million.

Option three: to fill-in parts of the canal in areas of greatest flooding risk, and rebuild and improve the remaining parts, costing around £2.6 million.

A public consultation meeting held in Risca had to be held outside when hundreds - some with banners - turned out to urge the council to choose option one. A further public meeting last week saw an action group set up to work with the council and push plans forward.

At a full council meeting last month, council leader Lindsay Whittle said: "We will give our commitment to finding the means of funding option one. The message from local people to save the canal was loud and clear."

Last night, at a meeting of the council's technical scrutiny committee, Risca East councillor Stanley Jenkins said: "At a public meeting held last week, a good 300 plus people attended and formed an action committee. They do mean business. "We now - if we can - have to have a report every so often to let us know what is happening."

Dave Williams, the council's chief engineer, said the first task was to identify and cost essential safety work needed.

He said a report could be brought before the committee when the programme of works was drawn up.