AN APPEAL has been made to save an iconic statue which has fallen victim to the weather.

A large part of The Workers public art, which stands on the Tesco roundabout in Haslingden, is rotten and is in desperate need of replacement.

While the two stainless steel workers are standing strong, the large wooden ‘bobbins’ they are working on have become battered by the Valley’s weather.

The sculpture was designed by students at Tor View Community Special School.

An it was then sculdpted by the plumbers at Accrington and Rossendale College in 2007. It was created to represent the historical cotton industry in the Valley and the people who built it.

The school, which is in Clod Lane, is now planning to start an art project where the children will help revamp the bobbins, turning them into a colourful centrepiece, if the wood- den structures are being replaced. Peter Sweetmore, who is chairman of governors at Tor View, is calling for people to donate materials they can spare to the project.

He said: “I was driving past the statues the other day, and noticed one was leaning at an angle.

“I decided to rescue it, tugged on it lightly and it came free – the wood is that rotten.

“The children go past the statues twice a day going to and from school, and it’s a real source of inspiration to them seeing their work there.

“That area is also the gateway to Rossendale and it is what everybody sees when they come to the Valley.

“We need two cable drums, one nine foot and one five foot, that we can weatherproof and let the children make colourful.

“The materials are the kinds that United Utilities and Electricity North West have lying around.

“Fiona McIlroy, art teacher at Tor View, has the art project ready to go, but can’t work with the children on it “until they can see and touch the bobbins.”

Anyone who can donate materials to the project should email Peter via petesweetmore@hotmail.co.uk.”