Date set to be announced for unveiling of Bobby Ball statue in Lytham

The Bobby Ball Foundation charity, set up in memory of the Cannon and Ball star, has posted on social media advance notice of an announcement to be made on Friday evening at 7pm. No further details are available until then.

The statue of the much-loved funnyman, who died aged 76 in 2020, was commissioned last year and the hope was always that it would be unveiled this summer.

London-based figurative sculptor, Ben Twiston-Davies was unanimously chosen to sculpt the artwork and it will be sited in Lowther Gardens, close to Bobby’s Lytham home and next to Lowther Pavilion theatre, where he performed many times and was a patron.

Bobby’s widow Yvonne said: “We have seen the work by Ben and we are absolutely delighted with it.”

The family asked specifically for the design to portray Bobby based on his 40th birthday appearance, with a ‘twinkle in his eye’, one leg slightly forward and slightly pulling on his right brace with his right thumb.

Fylde Council leader Coun Karen Buckley said: “Bobby was a very special individual who was truly adopted by the locals of Lytham St Annes.

“His lasting legacy of kindness and joy means he will be sadly missed and this statue will ensure he can go on giving that joy to visitors and residents of the area.”

Ben Twiston-Davies, a 50-year-old from Hertfordshire who has fond memories of watching Bobby and his long-time comedy partner Tommy Cannon on TV in Cannon and Ball’s heyday, said it was a real honour to be asked to sculpt the statue.

“I’ve been described as the artist commissioned to produce the statue but it was Bobby who was the artist and it has been up to me to relay that in the statue.

“The thing about Bobby was that he wasn’t just a deliverer of funny lines - he was a funny man through and through, a genuinely comedic figure who could instantly bring smiles to faces. If that isn’t crying out for a statue, I don’t know what is.”