A DESCENDANT of the sculptor who created Worcester's Queen Victoria statue outside the city's Crown Court has joined calls for it to be cleaned.

Consultant engineer Ian Thompson - Sir Thomas Brock's great great nephew - was alerted to the state of the statue by Worcester Museum and Art Gallery's collections officer Garston Phillips, who sent him an article from the Worcester News.

In April, we reported Worcester City Council's principal conservation officer Will Scott was calling for the grimy statue - which has stood in Foregate Street for nearly 120 years - to be given a good clean, backed by Hallow Road resident Donald Williams.

Mr Thompson, aged 64, said: "It could obviously do with a good brush and clean because in a very short time it will start to corrode and damage will start to occur if nothing is done.

"It'd be nice to see it cleaned as other monuments and historic buildings seem to be restored but it seems Queen Victoria is being left out for some reason."

Sir Thomas, who was born in Worcester, also created busts of British Medical Association and Worcester Museum founder member Sir Charles Hastings and county dignitary Earl Dudley - both owned by the museum.

One of his other notable pieces is the full-size statue of Bishop Philpott in Worcester Cathedral but arguably his most famous work is the Victoria and Albert Memorial outside Buckingham Palace.

Mr Phillips - who is researching sculptures in the city - agreed: "It'd be nice to see it done up again and restored to its former glory."

Earlier this year the city council sent a report to the crown court - which owns the statue - suggesting how it could be improved.

Court manager Janet Lloyd said the matter had been passed on to the estates department .

But she warned: "There's a lot of competing demands for very tight resources."