EBBW Vale’s Sidoli’s ice cream parlour was voted as the number one must-visit attraction in the valleys.

Rough Guide to Wales author Mike Parker teamed up with the Valleys Partnership, who are promoting the area to tourists, to compile a list of the top 50 valleys essentials.

This consists of must-see heritage attractions, unmissable eateries, events and scenic walks from the area which spans from Kidwelly in the west to Pontypool in the east.

Over 4,500 people have been voting for their favourite since last December, with Sidoli’s joint top with another Welsh-Italian ice cream parlour, Cresci’s of Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen.

In total, five Gwent attractions make the top 10, with Ruperra Castle, between Caerphilly and Newport, second, the Six Bells Guardian monument third, Pontypool Museum and Park in sixth and Cwmcarn Forest seventh.

Sidoli’s was founded by Benedetto Sidoli, in Cwm in the 1910s. He emigrated from Bardi, northern Italy, in search of work, at the age of 12.

He began selling tea and coffee to miners before opening a café in Cwm.

Around 1946, he opened Sidoli’s factory in Ebbw Vale and the company now supplies over 1,700 businesses, with 40 employees and has cafes in Ebbw Vale and Bridgend.

His son, Terry Sidoli said being voted number one is a "true celebration of my father’s sheer dedication and achievements".

He thanked all those that voted, adding: "It was the same warmth and spirit that valleys people showed back then that allowed my father to build our family’s business from nothing."

It will soon be passed on to the fourth generation of Sidoli’s.

Ruperra Castle is described by Mr Parker as "an unexpected delight", with the medieval castle heavily Victorianised and now lying in "gaunt, ivy-clad ruin".

He calls The Guardian at Six Bells - a memorial to 45 miners who died in a pit disaster - as "utterly breathtaking".

The folly and "quite bizarre shell grotto", are described as two of the main attractions at Pontypool Museum and Park while Cwmcarn Forest is called one of "the finest courses anywhere" for mountain biking.

See the full list at thevalleys.co.uk/top50