Graham Ibbeson was also behind the Eric Morecambe tribute

Graham Ibbeson, who created the seafront statue of Eric Morecambe in Lancashire, has been selected to create the bronze of Victoria Wood planned for her home town of Bury.

Her brother Chris Foote Wood has been running crowdfunding campaigns to pay for the life-size tribute. The first raised £23,000 – including £1,000 from Dame Judi Dench – and a  second topped that up by £1,500. Now he is seeking another £40,000  here ‘to ensure the statue depicts the best possible representation’ of Victoria by Ibbeson.

He said of the sculptor: ‘It was his statue of Eric Morecambe that first inspired me to try to get something similar for my multi-talented and much-loved sister Victoria.’

Ibbeson’s other creations include a statue of Les Dawson in Lytham St Annes, and  he  is also working on a possible statue  of Benny Hill in Southampton.

Bury Council has agreed to provide a site for the Wood statue in Library Gardens in the centre of the town, but will not put public money towards its construction.

Council leader Rishi Shori said: ‘We are delighted to be working with Graham Ibbeson.  We now have an artist who has done some remarkable work. Victoria visited Eric Morecambe's statue several times and admired Graham's work, so it is very fitting for him to be creating this tribute to such a talented star.  I’m sure it will be very popular with her numerous fans, from Bury and across the country.’

Ibbeson added: ‘I am honoured and delighted to be chosen as the sculptor to produce a bronze portrait of the much-loved comedian Victoria Wood. 

‘Her unique humour was a product of northern roots; unpretentious, accessible, and well observed. I will try to mirror all these qualities in my sculpture by trying to capture the warmth of her character and personality, and also reflecting the nation’s affection (and indeed mine) for her unique talent.’

Foote Wood’s campaign for the statue had reportedly caused family frictions, which have since been resolved after Wood’s children were given a bigger role in deciding what the statue will be.

A public vote called for the statue to depict Wood as her character of Bren from the BBC sitcom Dinnerladies.

Published: 15 May 2017