Cracking work, lad: Wallace & Gromit to get a statue

DESPITE usually being rendered in modelling clay, Wallace and Gromit are to be immortalised as bronze statues in their creator Nick Park’s home city.

The comedy characters will be sculpted in a scene on a bench inspired by The Wrong Trousers, to be placed in Preston markets in August, if plans are approved.

Park said: “It is such a great honour for me, as a proud Prestonian, to see my characters Wallace and Gromit cast in bronze and given pride of place in my home town.”

The statue was designed by Park, Aardman studios and Peter Hodgkinson, a Preston sculptor who has previously constructed a bust of Tom Finney, another notable son of the city, and LS Lowry. It will be cast at the Castle Fine Arts Foundry in Wales and funded by a slice of the Government’s £3.6 billion towns budget.

John Chesworth, chairman of the Preston Towns Fund Board, said: “Nick is one of our most famous living Prestonians and it’s great that we can celebrate his achievements with this new sculpture.” He said it could attract visitors “from Preston and beyond”.