£70,000 facelift for Brunel tower

Work on the tower is expected to be completed by spring next year

A £70,000 project is about to begin to save a 150-year-old tower designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Work to preserve the listed building at Briton Ferry near Neath is the first phase of a plan to restore the whole dock area built by the engineer.

Opened in 1861 it served the tinplate, iron and steel works that grew up in the area in the industrial revolution.

The tower will have a new roof, repairs will be made to the stonework and there will be improved lighting and security.

The long-term vision for the area is to restore the whole of the dock area to create a modern marina.

The dock closed in 1959 and its entrance has subsequently been filled.

Neath Port Talbot Council leader Derek Vaughan said: "The tower is a significant part of our heritage and standing testimony to the engineering genius of Brunel.

"The work will secure its future and have the potential to act as the catalyst to the dock's huge regeneration potential."

This year has seen exhibitions and celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of Brunel's birth.

In a BBC television series that saw millions of votes cast to find the public's greatest ever Briton, Brunel finished second to Winston Churchill.