WORCESTERSHIRE’S most famous son has been staring towards the cathedral for nearly 30 years. And if Edward Elgar was ever in need of optical enhancement, he perhaps should have gone to Specsavers. Instead, the statue of the great composer is currently brandishing a pair of not-so-dapper swimming goggles.

Kathy Sloan, director of the Elgar Museum, said he probably would have seen the funny side.

She said: “Elgar wasn’t the bombastic nationalistic figure that many people think he was.

“He was serious composer but had a light-hearted side and loved a joke.”