Set in stone?

Plans afoot for Dawson statue

Plans have been drawn up to erect a statue of Les Dawson in his adopted Lancashire home.

Campaigners have set up a committee to raise the money for the memorial, to be built by local sculptor Peter Hodgkinson in the seaside town of Lytham St Annes.

Chairman of the fundraising committee, Jim Cadman told the Blackpool Gazette: 'We know Les was a much-loved figure in the area and wanted to build a lasting tribute to him. We want a permanent statue to remember a great man

'While the plan is in its infancy, we are just starting to look at sketches of how we would want it to look, the ideas for fundraising are well under way. '

Fylde Council said: 'It is an idea we would certainly be interested in. Having seen the statue of Eric Morecambe which is also based in a seaside resort at Morecambe we know it is something people hold close to their hearts and hopefully this is something that could be possible here.'

Les's widow Tracy Dawson first mooted the idea of building a statue to commemorate her husband in 1998, five years after he died of a heart attack at the age of 59.

She said one of the favoured locations, overlooking the Ribble Estuary in Fairhaven 'was one of Les's favourite spots'.

'He loved Lytham and I'm sure he would think it was wonderful someone wants to put up a statue of him where he used to sit. If Morecambe has Eric, why can't Lytham have Les?'

Published: 13 Jan 2007

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