A GWENT attraction is to close after 12 years because of a lack of finances.

Martin Fay's Griffith-stown Railway Museum was a "labour of love", according to the former postman, who estimates he has poured a five-figure sum into the project over the years.

Now after a long battle to keep the attraction running, and in the face of low visitor numbers, he has finally decided the time has come to blow the whistle. The museum will close from June.

Mr Fay, 55, from Pontypool, said he was sad but added he was trying not to be "too sentimental".

He added: "It's going to be heart-wrenching. It's a huge collection and Griffith-stown has a proud history with the railways. But quite honestly I have to call it a day. It was the realisation of a dream when we opened it and you tend to keep thinking over the years that you are going to turn the corner. But frankly I haven't."

Mr Fay say mounting utility bill costs, as well as maintenance of the site and low visitor numbers have conspired to make the museum unworkable.

A life-long train enthusiast, Mr Fay took bought what was a derelict locomotive shed and completely refurbished it with the help of friends and family.

The museum has thousands of artefacts from equipment and photographs, to badges and model trains.

It also has a full working reconstruction of a 1950s railway buffet and lounge, as well as a huge model railway, built entirely by Mr Fay.

He told the Argus the collection would be "sensitively disposed of".

He added: "Obviously it's not going to happen overnight because it is going to take at least a couple of months to work out all the details."