THE BOSS of the company making a Newport edition of Monopoly took a trip up the Transporter Bridge yesterday to thank thousands of Newportonians who voted for locations that will take spaces on the game.

The development director at Winning Moves UK, Dan Taylor, saw the city and beyond from 177 feet up to recognise more than 7,000 people who submitted their favourite places.

He said: “It was great, I loved it. I was up The Shard (in London) a couple of weeks ago. I love the views and being above everything.

“The weather was nice and sunny but it was a bit cloudy. I’d love to go up it again. The reason to be up there was just a way of saying thanks to everybody. It’s a funky way of seeing everything and everyone.”

And according to Mr Taylor, Newport is a city going places.

He said: “Newport is definitely on the up. Everyone you speak to says it’s on an upward turn.”

Far from the company “spewing” out Monopoly games several times a year, he said it will only be one of a couple of places in the UK to get its own edition in 2014, made under official license from its owners Hasbro.

Last year the company brought out Monopoly editions for Wolverhampton and Lincoln, he said.

The game, which will feature 22 Newport landmarks, will be released in mid-October, although the exact date is yet to be finalised.

MP for Newport West Paul Flynn has already spoken of his delight about the imminent edition of the game and is a fan of having the Transporter Bridge in a prominent position because it would “make anyone’s pulse throb faster”.

Other mooted ideas that might appear on the Newport game include going to jail if you land in Cardiff.

Winning Moves UK struggled to find nominations for the Old Kent Road space, traditionally the cheapest and least desirable places on the board, and Mr Taylor suggested it might have been because the city’s was “too posh”.

Although nominations for Newport landmarks have closed, entries have reopened today (Fri) for people to select a charity that will be able to win a reserved space on the customised board.

The charity will need to be formally registered with the Charity Commission and have ties to the city. The winner will have a place on the prominent spot typically used in a game as the tax space where people have to pay one hundred Monopoly dollars for landing on it.

Voting opened at 12.01am today and will end at midnight next Thursday, May 1.

To send your nomination to Winning Moves, email newport@winningmoves.co.uk or post it to NEWPORT, Winning Moves UK, 7 Praed Street, London W2 1NJ.