BLAENAVON Town council wants to reassure residents that it is doing all it can to secure funding for a statue of the former Welsh rugby player Ken Jones.

This follows the announcement that the current WRU president Dennis Gethin has backed calls for a statue of the late Ken Jones, a former Welsh Rugby player and sprinter.

It is believed that the project could cost as much as £80,000-£100,000. This would be for commissioning of the artists and materials.

The town council wants to stress that it is doing all it can to make sure the statue happens.

Blaenavon town Cllr Stuart Evans said: "About three and a half years ago a group was formed, which included myself, Cllr Pauline Whitcombe and Cllr Roy Harris, to support the statue, but the biggest obstacle is funding.

"It is well out of reach for the town council. We have started the ball rolling with Torfaen council but we are still waiting for funding."

Momentum for the statue is growing, with support coming from a group of Blaenavon residents and Torfaen MP Paul Murphy.

Ken Jones was born in Blaenavon, and is best known for his winning try against the All Blacks in 1953. He began playing rugby as a pupil in West Monmouth School, and died aged 84 in 2006 following a successful career of 44 caps for Wales and scored 17 tries.

Cllr Evans added: "I would happily meet with anyone to discuss ideas for fundraising as we have been working on this for a long time."

The town Mayor, Cllr Janet Jones, said: "We are going through the correct channels to try and get funding but money is tight everywhere. There is a lot of support for the statue but it needs financial backing."