Denis Law statue in Aberdeen too heavy for proposed location

Denis Law is pictured next to an earlier statue tribute in Aberdeen

One of the proposed locations for a 4.5-tonne (4,500kg) statue of footballer Denis Law has been ruled out because of its weight.

Aberdeen City Council had agreed the tribute would be set near the newly-refurbished Provost Skene's House.

But Councillor Marie Boulton said it could not go directly outside because it was too heavy to be placed on top of an underground carpark.

BBC Scotland understands it will now be placed in a nearby pedestrianised area.

The statue will be in view of Provost Skene's House

This will be just off Broad Street, in between the Marischal Square office buildings and in view of Provost Skene's House.

Sculptor Alan Herriot's bronze statue and granite base is due to be unveiled there next month.

• Man Utd great Law diagnosed with dementia

• Denis Law receives Freedom of Aberdeen

Councillor Boulton, lead of the city centre masterplan, said: "We have looked at a couple of sites and unfortunately the weight bearing on top of the car park underneath, there was an issue over that."

The statue, entitled Legend, is already built and is currently in storage in Aberdeen. It shows the footballing great with his arm raised.

Law, now 81, was born and raised in the Granite City.

The former European footballer of the year went to Powis Academy, before moving away to play for Huddersfield when he was 16.

He went on to play for clubs including Manchester United, Torino and Manchester City.

He was one third of what became known as Manchester United's Holy Trinity, when he played alongside George Best and Sir Bobby Charlton during his 11-year stint with the Red Devils.

Denis Law played for Manchester United and scored 30 goals for Scotland

Known affectionately as The Lawman, he scored 30 goals for Scotland.

In August, it was revealed he had been diagnosed with dementia.

He received the Freedom of Aberdeen in 2017, and features in a new hall of heroes in Provost Skene's House, which reopened on Saturday.

The building, which dates back to 1545, has undergone a £3.8m transformation into an attraction celebrating achievements of people with links to north-east Scotland.