VC MEMORIAL campaigner Roy Eardley is hoping a bronze statue to his father will become a well-known landmark.

Mr Eardley was speaking after the unveiling of a £20,000 statue in memory of Congleton's only holder of the Victoria Cross.

The late Sgt George Eardley received the honour for heroism during World War Two, when he destroyed three enemy machine gun posts.

His VC was one of 177 awarded during World War II, 73 of which were posthumous.

The life-size statue was created by Alsager sculptor Nigel Weaver, and was unveiled on Sunday morning by Congleton town mayor David Brown.

The statue is sited in the community garden in Lawton Street, Congleton, and 70 people attended the unveiling.

Among the guests were members of the Eardley family, including Roy, who lives in Shropshire.

"It was wonderful to see the statue, and I would hope there would be a lot of interest in it for many years to come," said Mr Eardley.

"My wish to see a statue to my father was to bring to Congleton the honour of being the home of a VC."

Sgt Eardley died in 1991 at the age of 79, and was a member of the Kings Shropshire Light Infantry.

Members of the Light Infantry attended the unveiling, which was preceded by a parade.

The parade included members of ex-servicemen's associations and town councillors, the council having taken forward the project.

Parade marshall was John Grange from Congleton RBL.