Dodd to be immortalised in bronze

It has been revealed that a bronze statue of Ken Dodd, meeting previous Labour MP Bessie Braddock (died 1970), is to be erected on the main concourse at Lime Street Station, in his home city of Liverpool. It has been commissioned by the city's transport authority, Merseytravel, and will be designed by artist Tom Murphy.

Made an OBE in 1982, there is a pressing campaign to grant Dodd a knighthood. He was born in the city's Knotty Ash suburb in 1927, and started on the road to stardom aged just 14, when he became interested in entertaining, primarily through ventriloquism.

Other comedians to have been immortalised in statue included Tony Hancock (Birmingham), Eric Morecambe (Morecambe), and most recently Tommy Cooper, in his home town of Caerphilly.