Book shelved as statue charity hit with £5k bill

The finished sculpture is ready to be installed in South Street, Dorchester

Campaigners working to install a statue of a Dorset novelist have shelved plans for a book to accompany the project after being hit with an unexpected £5,000 bill.

Visible Women crowdfunded for the life-sized bronze of Sylvia Townsend Warner for Dorchester's South Street but had not factored in the cost of groundworks.

It said the additional expense meant some side projects, including a book about Dorset's forgotten women, would be postponed or cancelled.

Anya Pearson, who launched the project, said a separate problem involving site restrictions on the pedestrian shopping street was preventing installation work from being carried out during the day.

It's feared a delay could affect the planned unveiling on 14 December.

Ms Pearson said she hoped the restrictions could be resolved at a planned site meeting with Dorset Council representatives on Monday.

Sylvia Townsend Warner lived in Dorset with her partner, poet Valentine Ackland

She said: "We have had the disappointment of having to pay for the groundworks. We've had this huge bill that's wiped out our contingency.

"We don't want to [change the date]. We wanted to do the unveiling in December because that's her [Townsend Warner's] birthday month."

A Dorset Council spokesperson said: "Our aim is to minimise any potential impact on businesses and pedestrians, particularly during the busy pre-Christmas period, whilst supporting the charitable nature of this project.

"We will continue to liaise with Visible Women UK to agree on suitable timings and working methods that balance safety, accessibility and operational requirements."

Visible Women shared pictures on social media of the assembled statue on the new bench at sculptor Denise Dutton's studio.

The artist is adding finishing details before the sculpture is installed outside Gould's department store.