A SIX-year wait for a Newport community centre to be handed over to the control of local people could soon be over.

Residents have become increasingly frustrated that Pill Millennium Centre was not handed over to them despite promises it would be in 2000.

Newport council was due to make them responsible for running it, but have so far stalled on an agreement.

But a council spokesman said they were expecting to hand over the building in the next few months.

Edward Watts and Tony Boswell, chairman and secretary of the Pillgwenlly Millennium Trust, which was set up to take control from the council, say they are working hard to get the building transferred.

"The trust is still in negotiations with the council, as it was after its inception in 1999, and we await the final date of transfer," said Mr Watts.

Councillor Laura Buchanan-Smith, who represents the area, said she was confident an agreement could be struck.

"I would like to see it handed over as soon as possible because it has been a frustrating wait," she said.

Under the agreement, the city council will still own the building but the trust will run it.

"The lease is being finalised - it's just caught up in the legal system," said a local authority spokesman. "Hopefully, it should be any month now."

The centre hit the headlines last year after a fire left an estimated £90,000 repair bill.

The fire, on August 7, ripped through the building, causing serious damage to the boiler room, bar and computer room.

It was started in a rubbish bin near the centre, but police and fire investigators said it was not a deliberate attempt to target the building, and no one was hurt.

The facility has also had ongoing problems with graffiti since it opened in 1999.