Bolton's famous former town centre elephants have a new home at the hospital.

The sculptures, which stood in Newport Street for 25 years, are to be cleaned up and housed in a specially created landscaped garden at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

Town Hall chiefs were forced to remove the glass fibre sculptures following repeated attacks on them by vandals, but hospital bosses are determined to resurrect the elephants and are in the process of creating them a new home.

Heather Edwards, head of communication at the Royal Bolton Hospital, said: "We know a lot of Bolton people are very fond of the elephants so we're delighted to be able to give them a new home."

The three retired elephants will be sited off the main hospital corridor in the quad area, where members of the public on the way to maternity and the children's wards will be able to view them safely from behind the glass.

But the former sculptures were removed from Newport Street in March last year after they were smashed, sprayed with graffiti and slashed with knives.

Cllr Ebrahim Adia, Bolton Council's executive member for development, said: "We are delighted that the hospital has granted permission for the old elephants to be displayed for public enjoyment for many years to come."

Colourful new and supposedly vandal-proof elephant sculptures were unveiled in April, but they had to be removed less than a week later after they were vandalised.

Bolton Council had hoped the elephants would become a tourist attraction and their colourful patterns were designed by three local schoolchildren who had won a design competition, in which pupils from 121 schools took part.

They were made from Jesomite, which was supposed to be more durable, weatherproof and environmentally-friendly than the material the original elephants were made from.

The new elephants are currently being repaired and will be re-installed on Newport Street in August, with CCTV to protect them.