It is hoped a new £70,000 statue of Christopher Marlowe will be a more suitable tribute to the great playwright than the current "Victorian soft porn" sculpture on display in Canterbury.

That is the view of one resident, who has expressed her distaste for the city's existing homage to the famous writer - the scantily-clad bronze 'Muse of Poetry' statue.

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Rather than depicting the dramatist, the sculpture is of a bare-breasted woman standing on a plinth with four mini figures of famous Marlowe characters below.

Dubbed 'Kitty Marlowe', it was originally set up outside the cathedral entrance before moving and eventually ending up in The Friars, outside the city's main theatre.

It is hoped a new tribute - set to be installed next to St George's clocktower in the high street - will at last give Marlowe the "credit he deserves".

Writing to KentOnline's sister paper the Kentish Gazette, Whitstable resident Karen Lane revealed her disdain for the half-naked 'Kitty' statue.

"Surely anything will be preferable to the awful Muse of Poetry or ‘Kitty Marlowe’ statue located beside the theatre in Canterbury," she wrote.

"This unnecessarily undressed figure, who stands naked except for a titillatingly draped piece of cloth, has nothing specifically to do with Christopher Marlowe, who will be far better commemorated by a representation of the man himself rather than this bit of Victorian soft porn."

The 'Kitty' statue has been through the wars over the years, having been damaged in the 1942 Baedeker Raids, and then reinstalled facing the wrong way.

More trouble followed when vandals struck in 1977, stealing two of the statuettes.

But finally, in 1993, Kitty was placed where she truly belongs - now facing the right way - outside the Marlowe Theatre, with Sir Ian McKellen on hand for the dedication ceremony.

Fast forward to the present day, and a funding bid for the new iron statue - which is being crafted by the same sculptor behind the city's Tannery Field bull - was recently launched.

Its design has come in for criticism from a number of residents, including former city mayor George Metcalfe.

"To consider putting up a statue to one of the greatest dramatists of the 16th century with no face or at least something that looks like a scary marine creature from The Pirates of the Caribbean surely cannot be what the people of Canterbury really, really want," he said in a letter to the Gazette.

Speaking last month, Christopher Marlowe Statue Committee chairwoman Viriginia Webb said: "Marlowe doesn’t get the credit he deserves.

"Lots of people in Canterbury don’t know of his significance - he was a terribly important character.

“This statue is something which will last forever, and help Canterbury recognise Marlowe for the great man he was.”

Elsewhere in the city, a statue of Aphra Behn is due to be installed following a vote on the favourite design.

A new riverside sculpture by a Canterbury College student will also be going on display in Westgate Gardens at a later date.