AN ICONIC Valleys site will benefit from almost £2.5 million funding to improve its landscape.

Blaenavon World Heritage Site was awarded £2.47 million which will be splashed on improving and restoring its surroundings.

The cash comes as part of the Forgotten Landscapes project which hopes to increase the popularity and number of visitors to the site.

Heritage Lottery Fund will provide 60 per cent of the money, with the remainder coming from a number of organisations including the Assembly, the Heads of the Valleys programme and the Countryside Council for Wales.

It will be spent over the next three years on projects including the conservation and restoration of historical features such as the Pwll Du tramway tunnel, which was used to move coal, limestone and pig iron to the Ironworks.

Surrounding wetlands and grasslands will also get money spent on them, which is hoped will lead to the return of Welsh mountain ponies.

Access to the vast landscape around the site will be improved, including education projects.

A mini hydro-electric generator is being built above Forgeside community wood which will generate enough electricity to power around 35 homes.

The announcement coincides with today's launch of Torfaen council's Neighbourhood Services Department, which covers regeneration and leisure and will lead the project from its base at the World Heritage Centre.

Chief Officer Christina Harrhy said: "This is fantastic news. Forgotten Landscapes will significantly improve the World Heritage Site and its landscape setting."

Forgotten Landscapes, which will cover roughly 70sq km on the World Heritage Site, is a partnership between 130 organisations and led by the council.