The campaign for a statue of Sir Norman Wisdom in Deal has been boosted by a pledge of support from the late actor’s family.

Jez Anderson, who began pressing for a statue in November, has been assured by Kim Wisdom that the family is "one hundred per cent" behind his bid to pay tribute to her father-in-law.

Mr Anderson said: "They have told me they are only too pleased to help and they have graciously accepted my invitation to unveil the statue when it’s finished."

Fundraising hit the buffers in December when only a handful of people turned up at a meeting dedicated to forging two statue committees.

"It’s back on track now," said Mr Anderson who promises a statue would bring tourists into the town.

"The family have given me 100 per cent of their support."

A variety performance is planned for July at the Astor Theatre where Norman Wisdom impersonator Glen M Ford will tread the boards.

The variety performance is separate to the statue project, but a donation from one of the performances has been pledged towards the £55,000 cost.

"A publisher from Dover has told me he’s interested in publishing a book of memories and photographs of Mr Wisdom when he was in the locality," he added.

"We need people to lend us their pictures and talk to us about their memories so we can use them in the boo

If you have pictures and memories of encounters with Sir Norman Wisdom, see this week's Mercury (page 3) for details on how to submit them to Jez Anderson.