Hundreds of people gathered to watch the unveiling of a town's new statue of Queen Elizabeth II. Newcastle Borough Council commissioned the bronze sculpture of the late queen to mark the town's 850th anniversary last year.

The finished statue, created by Potteries-born sculptor Andy Edwards, was formally unveiled in Newcastle's Queens Gardens on Friday. It now stands just yards away from the statue of Queen Victoria – Queen Elizabeth's great great-grandmother.

But unlike the older statue, the new artwork is at ground level and has been designed to be approachable and interactive – reflecting Queen Elizabeth's public image. The cost of the statue has been fully covered by Staffordshire digger giant JCB and developer Capital&Centric, which is behind a number of regeneration projects in the town centre.

Representatives of both firms joined local dignitaries, Mr Edwards and children from St Giles and St George's CoE Academy for the unveiling event.

Council leader Simon Tagg said: "This has been a great day for Newcastle, and you can see from the turnout how much the Queen meant to people here.

The statue was created by Potteries-born sculptor Andy Edwards (Newcastle Borough Council).

"We've now got statues of two queens in Queens Gardens – our two longest serving monarchs – which will hopefully help attract tourists to Newcastle. The interesting thing about the statue of Queen Elizabeth is how it is interactive, people are able to approach it at ground level."

Tim Heatley, co-founder of Capital&Centric, said: "This was about showing our commitment to the future of Newcastle. The statue wasn't our idea, but when the opportunity came along to support it we knew it was something we wanted to do. At Capital&Centric we always think about the long-term.

"We have three projects in Newcastle town centre and we will be looking to start construction work soon. This statue is the first physical sign of our investment in Newcastle – it's the equivalent of us presenting our new neighbours in Newcastle with a bunch of flowers."

Mr Edwards' other works include the world famous Beatles statue in Liverpool and the sculpture of Stoke City legend Sir Stanley Matthews at the bet365 Stadium.

He based his statue of Queen Elizabeth on a photograph of her visit to Newcastle in 1973.

Mr Edwards said: "It's a big day for Newcastle – for a small town to succeed at doing something like this is something I'm proud of, and I hope it means something to all of you. The loss of Queen Elizabeth is still deeply felt across the country and by countless people around the world. She was a constant in all our lives. It does feel odd that she's not around any more. But I do believe people are comforted to be reminded that the Queen knew how much affection she was held in. This work has been commissioned and designed to express that."

Carole Hoult was among the Newcastle residents who came out to watch the unveiling of the statue. She said: "I thought they should have put it in the middle of the flower bed, but I can understand what they were trying to do. I'm just glad that she's here."

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