Spitfire sculpture unveiled at new Etruria Valley link road

The full-scale Spitfire is inspired by the work of renowned aircraft designer Reginald Mitchell

A full-scale Spitfire sculpture has gone on display on a roundabout ahead of the opening of a new road in Stoke-on-Trent.

The Etruria Valley Link Road will connect the Wolstanton junction on the A500 with Festival Park.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council said connecting sites in the Ceramic Valley Enterprise Zone to the road network would help unlock hundreds of jobs.

The sculpture has been created by apprentices in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

It is a tribute to the Staffordshire-born Spitfire designer Reginald Mitchell.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has described the wider £43m link road work, built by Balfour Beatty, as "one the biggest transport infrastructure projects" in the area in decades.

It is set to open to traffic on 23 January.

The local authority said it would also help to connect up the wider Ceramic Valley Enterprise Zone.

Council Leader Abi Brown said since opening in 2016 it had become "one of the most successful enterprise zones in the country" and 1.5m sq ft of commercial floorspace was available across the sites in Chatterley Valley East, Etruria Valley, Tunstall Arrow and Highgate Ravensdale.