ABERGAVENNY is to become home to Gwent's first dedicated bouldering centre in South Wales.

Huw Charrington, a serving detective with the Metropolitan Police in London, will open the centre in a warehouse on an industrial estate on the outskirts of town.

Mr Charrington, 34, of Westminster, has won approval from Monmouthshire Council to set up "Aber Rocks" along with a café and small shop on Castle Meadows Park in a unit that housed a brewery until recently.

Work to transform the unit is expected to take up to eight weeks and the former King Henry VIII Comprehensive pupil hopes to open the centre in August.

Mr Charrington, who will relocate to the county, has been a keen climber for the past 15 years and said climbers currently have to travel to Trefforest where Wales' only other dedicated centre is based.

Opening a centre in Monmouthshire could attract up to 1,300 visitors, aged from eight upwards, each month.

He said youth groups, scouts, guides, those with disabilities and special needs and schools are among those that would benefit from the low-level, four-and-a-half metre high climbing wall.

"It will provide Abergavenny with a much-needed additional leisure facility and social sport which will be inexpensive to use and accessible to the community," he said.

Indoor climbing continues to grow in popularity with over 300 climbing walls in the UK serving five million participants.

Those using the centre would climb a wall that is covered in obstacles for different skill levels without the use of a rope. A crash mat will be in place for safety.

"Climbing isn’t just physical, it promotes problem solving, teamwork and social interaction," said Mr Charrington.