A larger than life size replica of the comedian will be installed on a site close to St Annes Pier.

The garden to the right of the pier will be transformed into a Garden of Fame with Les Dawson as the central feature.

As well as the statue showing Les performing a stand-up routine, there will be room on the site for around 40 other celebrities to be honoured with plaques.

Les’s widow, Tracy Dawson, is delighted with the plan and location and said: “Les is going to be with his friends - he wouldn’t have liked to have been on his own.

“We used to go there on his day off - to the pier to play bingo - it’s where he loved to be.”

Work has started on the site and the statue has been commissioned with the hope it can be installed in October 2008.

The plaques will be installed over future years and Express readers will have the chance to give their say on who they would like to see honoured.

The committee behind the Les Dawson statue believe the Garden of Fame will bring great benefits to St Annes and Fylde as a whole.

Jim Cadman, chairman of the committee, said: “What it is going to do is allow up to 40 plaques to be placed on the site for all the people who have made a contribution to Fylde.

“People will travel to Fylde from all over the country to see it and I’m sure it will be a great tourist attraction.”

More details on the statue and Garden of Fame will be revealed in the New Year.