THE wife of MP Sir David Amess has been to see a statue of him before it is cast in bronze and goes on display.

Anna Firth, MP for Southend West, and Lady Amess, widow of Sir David Amess, have visited the Milwyn Castings foundry in West Molesey to see the statue.

The Amess family chose British sculptor Andrew Lilley to make the statue in June 2023.

The finished statue was made possible due to the fundraising efforts of Ms Firth and the generosity of Dr Vijay Patel OBE who stumped up £48,000 for the statue.

The next stage is for the sculpture to be cast in bronze before being unveiled in Southend at a ceremony planned for mid-April 2024.

Sculptor Mr Lilley said: “I made the decision to start the sculpture before any funds had been committed in the firm belief that this is a worthy cause and a fitting memorial.

“My sculpture has the full support of Sir David’s family who have told me, ‘we had hoped that one day a statue would be made... it brought tears to our eyes when we first saw it. It looks so much like him that it was deeply moving’.”

Ms Firth added: “The talented sculptor Andrew Lilley and the foundry staff at Milwyn Castings have done a wonderful job.

“I was so pleased to have been able to secure the funding to make this statue which goes some way to honour Sir David and his life-long commitment to serving in Southend and Parliament.”