Demolished Wedgwood statue to return

The Josiah Wedgwood tribute was unveiled by the sculptor Vincent Woropay for the National Garden Festival in 1986

A brick sculpture dedicated to potter Josiah Wedgwood will be restored after it was demolished by mistake during roadworks, a council says.

The statue had stood in Festival Park in Stoke-on-Trent since 2009 but was reduced to a pile of bricks in February.

Then-deputy council leader Dan Jellyman resigned over the demolition and the remains were taken to a depot.

An initial assessment concluded the sculpture could be salvaged, a city council spokesperson said.

Talks had begun with a conservation firm but replacement bricks would need to be sourced first, they added.

"We will need to find the right clay and allow for the correct amount of shrinkage to create a finished brick that matches in both size and colour," the spokesperson said.

New bricks will have to be made in order to restore the sculpture, the city council says

Workers demolished the 10ft (3m) statue of the Wedgwood pottery founder as they widened Marina Way.

At the time, the city council called the move a "significant operational error", but an internal investigation was launched, at the behest of former council leader Abi Brown.

The probe found the correct approvals were not in place to carry out the work and Mr Jellyman was not in a position to sign off the sculpture's removal, only to give his view.