THE Bishop of Monmouth is hoping for support from local people towards the restoration of St Woolos Cathedral, Newport.

We reported yesterday that the historic building needs urgent repair work costing around £3 million, and a rescue appeal committee is to be set up to help raise the funds.

Bishop Dominic Walker said: "I hope local people would want to support what is probably the most significant building in Newport.

"The cathedral is widely used by the community, not just the church congregation. It belongs to the city."

An inspection found that oak trusses in the roof were rotting and the stone on the outer walls is flaking off after centuries of wear and tear.

It also revealed the clay roof tiles needed to be replaced.

It is thought the appeal committee will need to raise about £1.5 million before they can apply for match funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and historic monuments body, Cadw.

St Woolos Cathedral in Stow Hill is a Grade I listed building and parts of it are nearly 1,000 years old.

Bishop Walker said: "If people have maintained it for this long, we ought to do our bit. It's part of our heritage and there is a feeling of responsibility."

He said the difficulty of funding large scale restoration work to listed buildings is a "major national problem".

"European governments support the upkeep of church buildings, but here there is a much more limited amount of money set aside," he said.

A more detailed inspection, costing about £17,000, will take place in February and plans will be drawn up to determine how the repair work will be done.

Michael Davies, of Davies Sutton Architects, which is carrying out the work, said he would like to see the work to the roof finished before the end of 2007.