Sir John Laing Furness Abbey statue plan rejected

The life-sized sculpture of Sir John Laing is made of bronze

Plans for a statue of a businessman to be sited at a religious site in Cumbria have been formally refused.

Barrow Borough Council's planning committee voted down the monument to Sir John Laing being erected at Furness Abbey despite it being recommended for approval by planning officers.

Sir John, who died in 1978 aged 98, believed his prayers there helped his firm succeed.

One councillor warned the statue would "open the floodgates" for others there.

The bronze life-sized sculpture of Sir John, positioned on a wooden bench, would have been situated in an area to the north of the main abbey, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Councillor Colin Thomson, vice-chairman of the planning committee, said the construction magnate was not born in Barrow and had "done nothing to help the town".

Committee member Councillor Bill McEwan, meanwhile, said: "My bottom line is it would open the floodgates for other people to put statues in the abbey."

Sir John Laing credited prayers at the abbey with making his business successful

The plan had been submitted by Sir John's grandson, David Laing.

At a previous committee meeting, he said Sir John had been "very much a man of the area" and that his business brought work to Barrow.