Call for statue at Beatties

The restored statue from Wolverhampton's famous Elephant and Castle pub should be installed above the doorway of Beatties to reclaim a prominent position in the city.

Wolverhampton Civic Society chairman Richard Rhodes says the statue would have "pride of place" looking towards the landmark of Prince Albert in Queen Square.

It would be even more appropriate, he says, as it would stand next to the 12 elephants engraved into the department store building, on the corner of Victoria Street and Darlington Street, in the early 1930s.

The statue graced the side of the Stafford Street pub which was controversially knocked down overnight in 2001.

Bushbury man Winston Aplin rescued it from a pile of fly-tipped rubbish. His cousin Steve Swift, of Coven Body Repairs, restored it.