Bronze memorial to Garfield the Ely Sainsbury's cat

The memorial bench - next to a bronze statue of Garfield - reads "sit and relax for a moment with me"

A much-loved cat that made a supermarket his second home has been commemorated with a bronze statue.

Garfield achieved social media fame by hanging out at his local Sainsbury's in Ely, Cambridgeshire, but died in 2019.

His owner and friends began fundraising recently after fans called for a permanent memorial to their favourite feline.

With almost £7,000 raised, a bronze life-size "Garfy" has been placed near a bench in Ely Country Park.

Garfield - affectionately known as Garfy - visited the Sainsbury's almost daily since the shop opened in 2012.

He was photographed often, sprawled on a sofa in the lobby, being petted by customers, and trying to get into their cars.

Garfield visited the store in Ely almost daily since it opened in 2012

Garfield was often found on the sofa in a Virgin Holidays store inside Sainsbury's

Garfield amassed a fan base of more than 6,000 people from across the globe, who followed his adventures on Facebook.

However, he was hit by a car in the store's car park and died in July 2019, aged 12.

Books were written about him and, following his death, a eulogy was held in Ely Cathedral.

An illustration in a book written about Garfy charts his reaction when a shop was built on his old stomping ground in Ely

After repeated calls for some kind of memorial, one was finally decided upon.

The bronze will sit on a plinth next to a bench

A life-size bronze of Garfy can now be seen on a plinth next to a bench "where people can sit, stroke him and remember him", said owner David Willers.

The statue bears the name Garfy and the engraving on the bench reads: "In loving memory of 'Garfy' - sit and relax for a moment with me."

Mr Willers said: "We started raising money for a memorial about a year ago, but I never thought we'd get there.

"It's so overwhelming - just phenomenal."

Donations came in from as far afield as the USA, Thailand and New Zealand.

Local sculptor Sally Dunham, who has a studio in Soham, Cambridgeshire, said it was a "delight" to have made the clay model - which was later cast in bronze.

Ms Dunham met Garfield many times when she shopped in Ely and said: "We really hope people who loved Garfy will come along to the park, sit and stroke his statue - we're actually looking forward to seeing it worn a little from all the attention."

The model was created in clay first, by artist Sally Dunham

When Garfield died in 2019, fans said "a little bit of Ely died with him"

Mr Willers added: "I still miss the little fella, but the statue is amazing - bittersweet because the memories come flooding back - but wonderful to have a statue."

The statue, plinth and bench was officially unveiled in the Ely park on Saturday.