Name chosen for Brownhills Miner

A picture of Jack 'Jigger' Taylor and family

A 30ft-high statue which stands over a former mine is being named after a collier killed in an accident.

The Brownhills Miner, as it is known, is being nicknamed Jigger after Jack "Jigger" Taylor who died when the roof of Walsall Wood pit collapsed in 1951.

Jigger's great-grandson Jak Groves, 13, won a competition to find an informal name for the £700,000 artwork.

The sculpture commemorates miners who worked in the town for three centuries before the last Brownhills pit closed.

'So proud'

Nicola Adams, Jak's mum, said the teenager was named after his great-granddad.

"We have heard all the stories about him from his Nan, Valerie Plant, who was Jigger's daughter.

"She died late last year and she would have been so proud to have known."

The family can trace six generations of miners and are proud of their heritage.

Jak said he was pleased the statue would be called Jigger.

"I think it's a fitting tribute to all the minders of Brownhills and not just my great granddad."

The statue stands at the junction of High Street and Chester Road.