Town's sculptures 'under threat'

A campaign is running to keep the Desert Quartet heads in Worthing

Grade I-listed status is being sought for sculptures which campaigners fear could be taken from a West Sussex town.

The request has been made for the Desert Quartet, four bronze heads designed by Dame Elisabeth Frink.

The Worthing Society said it believed they could be removed from the position they have occupied above the town's Montague shopping centre for 17 years.

The centre's developer Humphrey Avon said that he had made no decisions when approached by BBC South Today.

But the Worthing Society has been joined by the town's arts council, the 20th Century Society and the Public Sculptures and Monuments Association in a bid to protect the sculptures.

'Guardian angels'

The groups have applied to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport for Grade I "spot listing", which protects artistic or architectural property that could be "in imminent danger of damage or loss".

The Desert Quartet heads were commissioned when the shopping centre was being developed.

Dame Elisabeth died three years after their unveiling in 1990, at the age of 62.

Chris Lowe, an arts lecturer and member of the Worthing Society, said: "They're really important because they were towards the end of her life.

"They are kind of Worthing's guardian angels I think."