MONMOUTHSHIRE County Council spent £50,000 preparing bids for government levelling-up cash which failed.

Figures obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service show the local authority spent £31,000 to support an application for improvements in Monmouth and £19,075 on the Caldicot bid.

All authorities submitting bids to the UK government’s levelling-up fund are entitled to a £125,000 grant to support preparation.

Monmouthshire council submitted a bid for £11 million for proposed town centre improvements in Monmouth, as well as improving Shire Hall and redeveloping the Market Hall.

And a £14 million bid to upgrade Caldicot Leisure Centre and revitalise the town centre was also submitted

Both bids were unsuccessful in the first round, but the council has said it may bid again in the future.

A spokeswoman for Monmouthshire council said: “Monmouthshire County Council officers were assisted by a consultancy company (ARUP) and an individual consultant (Chris Jones) to prepare the LUF (Levelling Up Fund) bids for Monmouth and Caldicot. The support received from the Monmouth Levelling Up Fund totalled £31,000 and for Caldicot the Levelling Up Fund totalled £19,075.

“Given timescales to prepare the bids and the detail required within the bids the recruitment of external support was considered essential.”

Ten schemes in Wales were successful but none in Gwent.

A second round of winners is expected to be announced in the spring.