Australia explorer Matthew Flinders could get Euston statue

The explorer who is credited with being the first person to circumnavigate - and name - Australia could get a memorial statue outside Euston.

Captain Matthew Flinders is said to be buried underneath the London station.

Australia has about 200 statues dedicated to him but he is less well known in the UK.

A campaign has been launched for a statue to be put on the railway station concourse. Network Rail said it was in talks over the proposal.

South Australia's government is helping to raise awareness of the sculpture plan.

Bill Muirhead, South Australia's agent general, said he was approached last year by a retired naval officer who was requesting help with commemorating the bicentenary of Flinders's death.

"There was something very adventurous and determined about Flinders, qualities which I consider to be very South Australian - those of triumphing against the odds," he said.

Sculptor Mark Richards has produced a limited number of maquettes, which are available for purchase to help fund the commemoration.

"I see this sculpture to be as much an introduction, as it is a commemoration to his legacy and I feel honoured to have been asked to undertake such a landmark commission," he said.

John Allen, from the campaign group's steering committee, said: "The erection of the Matthew Flinders Memorial Statue will signify an important marker of honouring a forgotten hero on home soil."