Sir Terry Pratchett statue gets Salisbury City Council backing

Sir Terry died last March after an eight year against Alzheimer's disease

Plans for a life-sized bronze statue of Sir Terry Pratchett for Salisbury have been backed by the city council.

The statue would be designed by Paul Kidby who illustrated many of the book covers for the Discworld books of Sir Terry, who lived locally.

Mr Kidby said: "It would be beneficial for Salisbury to have a permanent sculpture of Terry because he had such a big influence on popular culture."

The hope is to install the statue in the marketplace or Elizabeth Gardens.

Although Salisbury City Council's services committee has backed the plans, money still needs to be raised to build it and planning consent also needs to be obtained.

Sir Terry died last March aged 66, eight years after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

The hope is to raise the money for the sculpture through crowdfunding

He lived in Broad Chalke, near Salisbury and played an active role in the community, visiting schools and supporting the local hospital.

His comic fantasy series sold millions around the world but he was also known for supporting research into the causes of Alzheimer's.

In 2009, he also became a campaigner for assisted suicide.

The campaign to build the statue is being led by Mr Kidby with the support of Sir Terry's family.

'On a tangent'

"Terry was always like, 'I don't want pigeons sitting on my head'," Mr Kidby continued.

"His take on it was always off on a tangent but we hope he will be pleased if it goes ahead."

The aim is to pay for the statue through crowd-funding and sponsorship from local companies.

A initial sketch has been made by the artist, but it will take about six months to build the life-size sculpture.

"It would be Terry, life-sized standing on a granite base which will have a depiction of Discworld on it.

"People would hopefully be able to stand next to Terry and hopefully interact with it," said Mr Kidby.