Support is growing for plans to build a statue of Sir David Amess in his beloved Southend.
The idea was first raised in the House of Lords by the Archbishop of York, who suggested positioning it at the end of the soon-to-be city's pier.
Borough councillor John Lamb said it would be "a lovely thing to remember David for all his hard work for the town".
Southend West MP Sir David was stabbed to death in Leigh-on-Sea on Friday.
The Most Reverend Stephen Cottrell was speaking after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Southend is to be made a city in Sir David's honour.
He told the Lords: "I reckon that now Southend has been declared a city today, forget about a statue of Vera Lynn at Dover, we are going to put a statue of David Amess at the end of Southend pier."
Sir David had previously championed the idea of a statue to Dame Vera at Dover.
Mr Lamb said he believed a statue could be built for as little as £60,000, but was eager not to put a limit on its cost or ambition.
"I think it would be a lovely thing to do," he said. "It ought to be something that comes from the people.
"It would be nice if public donations paid for it as David was a man of the people."
He said the cost would depend on what the statue was made out of and what size it was, but that a recently built bronze war memorial had cost £45,000.
"It is not impossible" the statue could be located at the end of the pier, Mr Lamb said, but he raised questions about possible corrosion and whether enough people would see it there.
"Wherever it is, it should be appropriate to the person that Sir David was," he said.
Speaking in the Lords, Mr Cottrell, who is from Leigh-on-Sea and grew up in Southend, said Sir David's killing "happened in streets I know well, just around the corner from where my mum lives".
He said the MP has been one of the first to congratulate him when he was appointed to his previous role as the Bishop of Chelmsford.
He added: "When I was translated to York, it was the same.
"He thought this was another way of putting Southend on the map. The boy who went to a secondary modern school in Southend was now the 98th Archbishop of York. He was so pleased."
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council has been approached for comment.
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2021-10-20 10:47:37Z
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