LOROS elephants sell for £286,000 at auction

The elephant sculptures made a big impression and were sold for £286,800 at Leicester City's King Power Stadium

A herd of elephant sculptures have raked in more than £286,000 at a charity auction.

After spending the summer in Leicester city centre as part of LOROS Hospice's Stomp Round Leicester art trail, 40 elephant sculptures were sold at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday.

The trail came to an end on 28 September after logging about 490,000 visits since mid-July.

The highest winning bids included £14,000 for Ellie, a lifelike representation of a young African elephant by artist Amy Bourbon, and £12,000 for XL, which was designed by international artist Alex Echo.

The Stomp Round Leicester trail finished on 28 September

Remember Me, an elephant sculpture displaying the names of loved ones who passed away, was gifted to the hospice by people whose bids totalled £29,000.

LOROS hoped the trail and auction sale would boost the coffers of the hospice in the face of "real financial challenges".

Following the auction, Camilla Barrow, acting CEO at LOROS, said: "We are absolutely blown away by the total raised - it's a staggering amount and that's all thanks to the incredible generosity of these supporters.

"I'd like to thank them all so much."

Ms Barrow said the trail had helped "shine a light" on hospice care at a time "when we need it most".

"This magnificent total is a step towards securing our future, but we still have a mammoth hill to climb," she said.