A STATUE to pay tribute to the men behind Malvern's world-renowned Morgan sports car is planned for a site in Malvern Link.

H F S Morgan, who founded the Morgan Motor Company in 1909, and his son Peter, managing director of the company for 40 years, could be commemorated in stone opposite the site of first Morgan factory, where the car was built until 1923

The statue is planned for a site on common land at the junction of Worcester Road and Pickersleigh Road, opposite the Santler Court retirement flats, which were built on the site of the first factory.

It could be in place by 2007 and will cost an estimated £65,000.

Morgan car enthusiast and owner Roger Moran, from Suffolk, came up with the idea for the project.

"Malvern now has the opportunity to show the world how proud it is to be the home of Morgan," he said.

Initial ideas for the statue show it sculpted from Malvern stone, incorporating wheel shapes, spotlights, seats, the wings of the Morgan crest and a water feature.

Mr Moran hopes to raise the money for the statue by asking enthusiasts worldwide for contributions.

Charles Morgan, managing director of the company, said a statue of his father and grandfather was a marvellous idea.

"It would be an enormous honour to the Morgan family," he added.

People who live and work near the proposed statue also had a positive response.

Mike Hanney, house manager at the Santler Court retirement flats, said: "I think it's a wonderful idea and the residents would enjoy looking out onto the statue. They're famous people of Malvern and I think they should do something for them."

Santler Court resident Audrey Hall has lived in Malvern for 50 years.

"They've been a wonderful family. It'll be nice because they started here," she said.

Kevin Cave, whose Worcester Road dental technicians business is near the site, said: "There's been an awful lot of money spent on statues in Malvern. I don't think £65,000 is an excessive amount. It would be a good tribute to them. There's no other tribute in Malvern and Morgan is known throughout the world."

Mr Moran, who is also behind another planned memorial to Peter Morgan, a stained glass window for the Church of St Peter and St Paul in Stoke Lacy, where H F S Morgan's father and grandfather were parish vicars, said the statue would be good for Malvern, as it would draw enthusiasts from as far as Japan and the USA.

Planning permission will be needed from the Malvern Hills Conservators and Malvern Hills District Council before the statue can be built.

The process will begin on Thursday when the Conservators' PR committee is due to discuss the statue being built on land it manages.