SCULPTORS will compete to create a Fred Dibnah memorial statue in bronze.

The Bolton and District Civic Trust are drawing up a shortlist of seven sculptors from across the country, and will ask them to design a permanent tribute to the TV celebrity steeplejack.

Fred died in 2004, aged 66, following a battle with cancer.

More than £30,000 has been raised to fund the statue since The Bolton News and Civic Trust launched the Fred Dibnah Memorial Appeal.

Bolton Council has already granted planning permission for the tribute, which will be installed alongside the Hick Hargreaves engine in Oxford Street in Bolton town centre.

Original ideas for a glass-contained statue of Fred and one of his famous engines have been scrapped. Instead, a statue of Fred will be installed on a chimney top-style plinth at the site.

Brian Tetlow, chairman of the Civic Trust, said: "We have been sent examples of the work of a number of sculptors.

"We are now looking at a shortlist of seven who we have been impressed by, two of whom are local to Bolton.

"We will ask them to submit their ideas and there will then be an adjudication."

A commemorative blue plaque, detailing Fred's life, was placed on his home in Radcliffe Road, The Haulgh, last year.

Plans to honour his memory also include creating a bursary at the engineering department of Bolton University, with a trophy presented to the department's leading student each year.