Captain Mainwaring statue on course

THETFORD'S plans to permanently immortalise fictional Home Guard leader Captain Mainwaring have taken a step forward.

An appeal was launched in Thetford 18 months ago to create a bronze statue of Captain Mainwaring to celebrate the town's links with Dad's Army.

Now supporters of the timeless television sitcom have reached the halfway mark in their fundraising bid for the public project and the Friends of Dad's Army Museum have called on prospective sculptors to come forward. They are also asking members of the public to air their views on the design of the Capt Mainwaring statue.

Officials hope they can raise the remaining �10,000 for the statue, which is hoped to be completed and unveiled in the first half of next year.

The scheme, which has the support of the Dad's Army cast and crew, aims to mark Thetford's connections with the BBC series, which was filmed in the area between 1968 and 1977.

Volunteers behind Thetford's Dad's Army museum hope the statue could be erected between the Bell and Anchor hotels where the writers, actors and television crew stayed during filming.

Corinne Fulford, from the friends group, said sculptors were being asked to send in their CVs and residents to air their opinions about the statue by July 31.

She said the project had the backing of the Dad's Army Appreciation Society and family members of Arthur Lowe, who played the role of the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard captain.

“We saw both writers and some of the actors at the Bressingham Dad's Army Day recently and everyone was extremely excited about the idea. It raises our profile further and it will attract enormous amounts of people to the town. There is nothing like it in the country and it will put us on the map,” she said.

Artists and the public can write to Belmont House, 20 King Street, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2AP, e-mail info@dadsarmythetford.org.uk or call 01842 751975.