Victoria Wood's brother said he was "shocked" to find out a statue commemorating the late comedy queen had been smashed up last night.
The much-loved monument was erected in Bury, Greater Manchester, in 2019, as a tribute to the Prestwich-born actress and comedian, who brought us gems, including Dinner Ladies and Pat and Margaret.
Recently released pictures show the statue, which was designed by Graham Ibbeson and depicts the late star, who died in 2016, with a microphone in her hand, toppled over with a silver taxi upended on top of it.
The area is now cordoned off with orange fencing and the car has since been removed from the site. The incident happened on the evening of June 3 and the driver went to hospital with non life threatening injuries, according to authorities.
A statue of the late comedy queen, Victoria Wood, has toppled over after a taxi crashed into the much-loved monument (MEN Media)
The car was completely upended after the crash (MEN Media)Speaking about his "shock" after discovering the incident, Carl Foote-Wood, who helped to crowd fund the statue, told the Manchester Evening News: "It’s a terrible shock to be told that your sister has been knocked down by a taxi, but Victoria always was tough and her bronze statue even more so. She’ll be back good as new very soon."
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Bury Police told the Mirror: "We were called shortly after 10pm last night. No arrests were made. The driver went to hospital with injuries, which are not believed to be serious or life changing."
A Bury Council spokesman added: "Victoria Wood was a national treasure, and we are proud to call her one of our own. The statue was crowd-funded by Victoria’s brother Chris and from her estate, and maintained by the council. It was made by the acclaimed sculptor Graham Ibbeson and unveiled in 2019. It has been a source of great pleasure to many visitors to Bury, and it’s a huge disappointment that this incident has happened and the statue will have to be removed.
"We are currently making arrangements for the statue to be removed and kept in a safe place while we assess the extent of the damage to it. We will be in close contact with Victoria’s family in deciding what to do next. We understand that the police are investigating the incident, and that the driver went to hospital with non-serious injuries. The vehicle is a taxi, licensed in Wolverhampton.”
The statue, which was designed by Graham Ibbeson and depicts the late star, who died in 2016, with a microphone in her hand (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)A comedic inspiration for so many, mum-of-two, Victoria, spent a fittingly funny final few hours with her family, just before her death from cancer at the age of 62.
The much-loved sitcom writer died on April 20, 2016, and it appears that she kept her wonderful sense of humour to the very end. After being discharged from hospital, it's understood the star spent her last days at her home in Highgate, London, where she was cared for by her two adult children Grace and Henry, sister Rosalind, and her close friend and collaborator, Piers Wenger.
In Jasper Rees' authorised biography Let's Do It, published back in 2020, those close to the comic opened up about her final days. Victoria's pal and long-time writing partner Julie Walters said her friend was in a state of 'determined denial', once declaring: "I just need to get this managed – the pain. And then I'm going to write something."
Julie, who struck up a friendship with Victoria during their student days, continued: "They were sending her home to die in fact, but she wasn't going home to die. It was her way of dealing with it. Otherwise, you have to face, 'OK, this is the end'. She didn't want to do that." Her sister Rosalind also said that Victoria had remained courageously creative and funny despite being so poorly, at one point even penning a sketch about tidying up her sock drawer. Rosalind recalled: "I was cursing that I couldn't record it. It was absolutely hilarious.
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