A FARMER has called for an old railway viaduct – that is so dilapidated it is slowly collapsing into his land – to be torn down or restored.

Graham Long, of Troy Farm near Monmouth, said he is worried that somebody could get hurt by Troy Viaduct, which hasn't seen a train since 1959 and was sold off in the 1980s.

But it is unclear exactly who is responsible for the structure, with the director of the company that owns the viaduct listed at Companies House as contactable in Prague.

Monmouth MP David Davies has called for it to be brought back back into public ownership.

Mr Long, 80, told the Argus: "When you look from Trellech Road it looks like a nice monument. When you look on the other side it looks positively dangerous and falling down."

"It's an eyesore," he said.

He said through arches in the viaduct are required to access the other side of the farm, and children often play around and on the viaduct.

"Definitely a tractor driver could get hurt or a child could get hurt."

Mr Long said that three quarters of an acre has been fanced off around the viaduct.

He said that he had offered to take it on in the days of British Rail but to no success.

He said: "I would like them to either take it down or do it up. But the amount of money to do it up would be huge."

Monmouth MP Mr Davies said he hasn't been able to contact the legal owners.

He said he hoped BRB (Residuary), which handles British Rail's former responsibilities, will "do the decent thing and take back ownership of the viaduct."

"The sight of the viaduct as you come down the hill from Trellech towards Monmouth is fantastic, and it would be a sad day for the town if it completely collapses or is demolished," he added.

IT IS unclear who is responsible for Troy Viaduct – with the company that owns it said not to have the resources to repair or demolish it.

A spokesman for the Department of Transport said BRB (Residuary), a government owned company that deals with some former British Rail property, fenced off the viaduct despite it having been sold to Monumental Trust.

Companies House lists the address of the company's director Stephen Weeks, as in Prague, Czech Republic.

A Monmouthshire Council spokesman said Monumental Trust does not appear to have the resources to undertake effective repairs or demolition.

BRB(Residuary) believe that responsibility for the structure and its future safety lies with the council, he added, but the council have been advised it has no responsibility for it.

No meeting between BRB(R) and the council over the future of the structure has yet taken place, he added, as liability and responsibility has not been established.