The scenic walk goes from Caerleon to Brecon

There are ambitious plans for the Usk Valley walk, which stretches from Caerleon to Brecon, to be continued into the Towy Valley, ending at Llandovery in Carmarthenshire.

It has been revamped with new tourist guides and facilities along the route after a �21,000 Welsh Assembly Government grant.

The local economy was badly hit after foot-and-mouth forced the route to be closed.

But now the Usk Valley Partnership hopes that visitor numbers will be boosted.

Assembly Countryside Minister Carwyn Jones described the walkway as an important way of enhancing the economy.

"When you think about the Pembrokeshire coastal path you can see what possibilities a well-signposted and well-publicised walkway can have," he said.

"For every �1 that is spent there, it brings �57 back in.

"And we are keen to develop walking tourism in the Monmouthshire area because it brings money into the local economy," he added.

Sand and gravel

During the opening, Mr Jones also reassured people that there were no plans to quarry areas of sand and gravel discovered in the region after being challenged by a member of the public.

John Jones, a member of the Talybont and Usk community council, asked the minister: "What reassurances can you give that this area will not be desecrated by sand and gravel exploitation?"

Mr Jones' response was that the decision by the assembly government to find reserves of sand and gravel in Wales was merely to safeguard them and prevent development of housing on the land.

"People shouldn't worry about this - it is about designating the areas but doesn't mean that these areas will be quarried," he said.

"It is about safeguarding them.

"There are no applications to exploit these areas at the moment and there is no policy to encourage the exploitation of these areas," he said.