Sir Terry Pratchett's family backs statue bid in Salisbury

In the past two weeks, hundreds of fans have signed a petition for a permanent statue to the writer in Salisbury

Sir Terry Pratchett's family is backing a campaign to have a statue of the author erected in Wiltshire.

The creator of the Discworld series died at the age of 66 in March, following a public struggle with Alzheimer's disease.

In the past two weeks, hundreds of fans have signed a petition for a permanent statue to the writer in Salisbury.

A spokeswoman for the family said he would "undoubtedly" have found the amusement "in almost any statue".

She said: "Sir Terry always said he would like to be useful in death, so a statue where a pigeon can stop for a well-earned rest would have amused him no end."

The campaign for a permanent "tribute to Sir Terry" was launched on Change.Org by Emily Brand.

"Here in Salisbury we were lucky enough to have him as a local resident for over 20 years," she said.

"But there is little to inform guests and residents of his involvement, or the love the community had for him in return.

"In fact, a quick internet search fails to find any statues of him in the UK at all."

'Giant turtle fountain'

The petition has already received 1,250 signatures.

Backing the campaign, fan Kaye Elling wrote: "I think he would really appreciate it if the final result was a bit naff or creepy."

Janette Ward also signed, with the comment: "I would love to sit on a bench seat with him at the other end! (Reading of course!)."

But Ms Brand said "if money was no object" a giant turtle fountain "would be amazing" but they "may have to scale that down slightly".

Sir Terry wrote more than 70 books during his career and sold over 85 million copies around the world.

His final novel, The Shepherd's Crown, was released six months after his death.