A SIGN depicting the coats of arms of two important Chipping Campden families may finally be created more than 80 years after it was originally designed.

A group of interested people, led by resident and town councillor Chris Ryle, have spent the past few months fund-raising to gather enough money to pay for the sign which may then be adopted by the town council who will be responsible for its upkeep.

So far more than 140 people have donated money to the project, including the film company who recently visited the town.

"The size of donations has been quite extraordinary. It is clear there is a lot of support for it," said coun Ryle.

The sign was designed by Wentworth Huyshe who lived in Campden from 1906 until his death in 1934.

He was a war correspondent for The Times and New York Herald during World War I and was particularly interested in heraldry.

He wrote historical works and edited other books and was an authority on arms and armour, which he also collected. He was a friend of Somerset Maugham who, in his novel Of Human Bondage, used him as a model for the character of Athelney and he knew Oscar Wilde and Frank Harris.

Huyshe was a familiar figure in Campden for almost 30 years and was painted by several artists as he was famous for his trimmed beard and clothes. He designed and painted inn signs and in 1919 staged a pageant in Campden.

The sign was designed by Huyshe with the help of his silversmith son Reynell. He painted a watercolour of it depicting the coats of arms of the Gloucesters and the Gainsborough families from Campden which is on display in the Guild of Handicraft in Campden.

He wanted it to be installed by the driveway and gates to Campden House, but the driveway has since been re-opened, making it an impossible site. Coun Ryle is now in touch with the Landmark Trust, which owns land nearby, to find out if it can be put elsewhere.