The ongoing restoration of the Montgomeryshire canal could bring £5m of extra tourism spend into Powys - and create 125 jobs.

A meeting of Welshpool Town Council last night (July 28) was told funding bids of £25m have now been put in for the completion of the project - with the next phase between Llanymynech and Ardleen set to cost £15m alone.

During an update issued to the town council saw John Dodwell of Montgomeryshire Canal Partnership told the meeting that "significant progress" could be made on reconnecting the canal to Welshpool in the next three years.

"The gap from Llanymynech to Ardleen is about 4 and a half miles, the levelling up fund application is based on the work being done by March 2024," he said.

"There's a limit of £20m for how much you can apply for so we had to knock something out to get under the threshold so if we are successful it will restore the canal back to Maerdy south of four crosses with the two crossings to be dealt with later which is why there's a separate application to the Mid Wales growth fund.

"If we're successful with the levelling up fund you'll see significant progress by March 2024."

The meeting was also told how three new nature reserves would need to be created as part of the project - two of which would be within the Welshpool area, one near Ardleen and another near Garthmyl.

In 2005 the Montgomery Canal Partnership produced a conservation management strategy which was designed to reconcile conflicts between those who wanted to keep the canal as it was and those who wanted it restored, Mr Dodwell said.

He added that the Montgomeryshire Canal Partnership was intending that Welshpool Town Council could take on leases for the nature reserves at a nominal cost of £1,000 per year, and said it had a "symbolic importance" that the council was involved.

However several councillors expressed a view that the money simply was not in place to financially support the project.

"We all look forward to the canal being opened - it's a wonderful opportunity," said Councillor Phil Pritchard.

"However I'm under the impression that the town council hasn't got anything to give, we haven't got money we haven't got time, we really haven't got much to put in the pot for it.

"If we had a lot of money in the bank we could do something, but the state we've got at the moment I don't think there's anything we can offer apart from our moral support."

The council agreed to take the matter back to committee and discuss it fully at full council later this year.