Plans for an upmarket all-year tourism attraction in Pembrokeshire have brought fresh hopes of a jobs revival in one of Wales's hardest hit areas.

Forty nine million pounds of funding for the first phase of the luxury Bluestone development, a chalet-style holiday village off the A40 near Narberth has already been secured.

Oakwood's new Hydro ride opened last month

It is hoped the 500-acre project will open in two years time creating 600 full-time jobs and bringing in a wave of new tourists to the area.

The promise of new posts comes as a welcome fillip for the area, which last month suffered the loss of more than 1,000 call centre jobs with the collapse of ITV Digital.

The area has been striving to replace jobs lost in recent years with the decline of the oil refinery sector and the armaments depot at Trecwn near Fishguard.

The Bluestone development - named after the famous Pembrokeshire stone used to build Stonehenge - has been five years in creation.

The man behind it is Pembrokeshire businessman William McNamara, who was also behind the hugely successful Oakwood theme park nearby.

Mr McNamara stepped down as Oakwood's managing director this season to concentrate on his new project.

This is a new generation of holiday village which is very much going to trade on the attractions of Pembrokeshire

William McNamara

The scenic county has built up a strong tourism business around the many privately-owned holiday cottages, which are scattered around the county.

"This is a new generation of holiday village which is very much going to trade on the attractions of Pembrokeshire," said Mr McNamara.

The development will follow the format of the Center Parcs holiday villages in England, grouping 400 log cabins - some with private jacuzzi and sauna's - around a Celtic village, sports centre, a health spa and an all-weather sub-tropical water attraction.

Building jobs

Private sector funding for Bluestone's first phase has been secured with a consortium of banks providing the backing, said Mr McNamara.

An application for public sector finance from the Welsh Assembly, Welsh Development Agency and the Wales Tourist Board is due for submission within the next two months.

A planning application will follow that with special attention being paid to sustainability and environmental issues.

Mr McNamara said he expected up to 200 construction jobs would be created while the project was being built over 18 months.

Tourism chiefs in the county have welcomed news of the development, saying it will tap into a new luxury end of the market.

The ITV Digital operation collapsed last month

"The McNamara family have got a great track record in what they have done at Oakwood," said Tim Brace, chair of Pembrokeshire Tourism.

"We're confident that the new attraction will tap into the top end of the market."

Oakwood is one of Wales's biggest tourist attractions and among the top 10 theme parks in the UK.

It attracts about 350,000 visitors each year and hopes to boost this to 500,000 after recently investing �1.7m in opening Europe's tallest and steepest water slide.