Birmingham's King Kong statue goes on show in Leeds

The statue now stands outside the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds

An 18ft (5.4m) high statue of King Kong which once sat in Birmingham's Manzoni Gardens is going on public display.

The statue is part of a new exhibition at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds.

The figure was only in Birmingham for six months in the 1970s but became a popular attraction with a campaign launched to stop it being sold.

The piece by Nicholas Monro has been in private hands since Birmingham City Council sold it to a used car dealership.

It was commissioned in 1972 as part of the City Sculpture Project which saw sculptures installed in eight cities in England and Wales.

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The original commission was by the Peter Stuyvesant Foundation in partnership with the Arts Council.

The large fibreglass statue was constructed at Mr Monro's studio in Hungerford before being displayed in Birmingham.

The original artist's mock-up of the statue is also part of the exhibition in Leeds

The current owners have loaned the statue, which has been repainted in its original colours, to the Henry Moore Institute for the duration of the exhibition.

The artist's original mock-up or maquette of the statue has also been loaned to the Henry Moore Institute for the exhibition which runs until February 2017.