Coalville's Mother and Child Statue is the original version of the iconic figure, according to the son of the man who created it.

The statue was officially unveiled last month after undergoing a £40,000 restoration project.

It was returned to its original place in the Belvoir Shopping Centre after being sited outside Coalville Library.

That was after the figure was rescued from a rubbish skip in the 80s.

However, people have pointed out that there is an apparent replica in Cardiff city centre.

But Dr Ceri Thomas, son of the statue's sculptor Robert Thomas, has confirmed that the statue you can see in Coalville is the original.

Ceri is the 'child' depicted when the statue was first created.

He told Coalville Nub News: "I am proud. I was almost at the point of being upset and moved by it all because dad died in 1999 - and he was still working. He was 72 he wasn't retired, just working full out, yeah.

"I was only four and a half when it was originally unveiled in 1963 and couldn't come to it.

"So when it was unveiled once more in Coalville, it was the first time I'd seen it.

"And it just struck me, even though there's another copy in Cardiff, this is the original one that my father had done. People have, people have referred to the one in Cardiff, and I wondered why is that there?

"But I'm adamant, this is the original one. This is a riveted bronze from 1963, the one in Cardiff was cast in 2005. And it's welded bronze, which is the newer technology.

"I think that point, needs to be made. In Cardiff, in 2005, it was 50 years old as a capital of Wales - and they wanted to market that in a public way, which is how they commissioned some bronze casts of my father's sculpture.

"So I wanted to show his range, yeah. That's why I wanted another cast in Wales, to show where he began."

Ceri admitted the story of the statue being rescued from a skip was new to him.

He added: "I find that amazing. I spoke to the guy who saved it and I didn't know that story until the unveiling a couiple of weeks ago.

"This this sculpture, has had a life, hasn't it? A 61 year life."