The future of Wales's oldest tourist attraction has been safeguarded after financial help from the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW).

The National Showcaves Centre for Wales in the Swansea Valley, planned to close one of its three caves from next January with the loss of 20 jobs.

It is the first step in preserving an attraction which dates back 300 million years

Ashford Price, owner

Managers at the Dan yr Ogof centre near Abercrave said the attraction could not compete with the free-entry offer at Wales's national museums.

But a grant of �10,000 means essential maintenance work can now go-ahead and the jobs have been saved.

The centre spends �100,000 a year on maintenance and the money will ensure this work can begin in preparation for the winter.

The privately-run operation has been on the brink of having to hand out statutory notices of redundancy to staff.

Free-entry criticised

Ashford Price, owner of the complex, said the grant had come just in time to save jobs in an area which was still recovering from the effects of foot-and-mouth disease.

He said: "It really has been the eleventh hour because we would not have been able to start on health and safety maintenance work necessary to ensure we could open again next spring.

"It is the first step in preserving an attraction which dates back 300 million years."

Mr Price has been highly critical of the Welsh Assembly's policy of granting free opening to public museums and attractions.

According to Mr Price, the numbers of schoolchildren visiting the caves has since fallen by 65% since the policy was introduced.

Lifeline

He added: "The assembly hasn't been interested in our problem.

"We are in a catch-22 situation.

"f I can get my schools business back then I could pay for the maintenance costs which are �100,000 each year then I wouldn't need a grant to help.

"The directors and staff here are very grateful to the CCW otherwise the caves would have closed and jobs would have been lost."

The grant will be used to start work on pumping out the caves to stop them backfilling with sand and silt.