Site agreed for comic duo statue

The statue has been waiting for a site to be confirmed in Ulverston

A home has been agreed for a bronze statue of Laurel and Hardy, in the Cumbrian town where one half of the comic duo was born.

The tribute, created by sculptor Graham Ibbeson, has been in storage since 2005 while a site was found in Ulverston, where Stan Laurel was born in 1890.

The Laurel and Hardy fan club raised £60,000 for the statue.

South Lakeland Council has confirmed it will be installed as part of a revamp of the town's County Square in 2009.

Public appearance

The statue captures the silver screen legends leaning against a fully working lamppost with a dog yapping at their feet.

It will be positioned on the pavement outside the Coronation Hall theatre, where the duo made a public appearance on the balcony in 1947.

Stan Laurel was born in the town before moving to the US in 1916.

Mr Ibbeson also created the Eric Morecambe statue, which was unveiled in Morecambe, Lancashire, in 1999.

Access to the County Square is being upgraded as part of a £400,000 scheme, with funding from the council, English Heritage and the Friends of the Laurel and Hardy Statue group.