THE woman who restored the Mother and Child statue in Coalville says she 'jumped at the chance' to bring the iconic town sculpture back to life.

Lucy Branch, of Antique Bronze - the company which includes Nelson's Column on its CV - said she felt the statue was always loved due to its association with the town since the early 1960s.

The Mother and Child was recently restored and re-sited at its original spot in the town, what is now the Belvoir Shopping Centre.

But it had a story to tell after being rescued from a rubbish skip in the 1980s and then placed outside Coalville Library.

At the recently unveiling, Lucy admitted that this was a task she relished - as she felt it was an overlooked piece of art which needed to have its profile raised.

She told Coalville Nub News: "This the changing appreciation of what sculpture is now - at the time, in the 1980s, it was on its downers.

"Councils probably thought to themselves, 'she's had her day'. But she hadn't.

"They weren't thinking about the significance of the artist. They weren't thinking about the significance to the community. They're probably thinking 'the community doesn't love her'.

"But the thing we noticed more than anything else is, when we were taking her from the library, everyone wanted to tell us their story. 

"Everyone wanted to tell us about their grandmother who took them to the sculpture.

"So she was loved - but there was just this assumption.

"Whoever threw her in that skip wasn't thinking in that moment. They weren't thinking about now and they weren't thinking about the people that hadn't got a voice to say that they loved her. Thank goodness they pulled her out."

Lucy has worked on landmark statues such as Nelson's Column, the Royal Albert Memorial, Eros and Cleopatra's Needle.

But she said this was a sculpture she wanted to be a part of.

She added: "When this came up, I immediately jumped on it. 

"I felt it was a significant sculpture and very important.

"The town is so lucky to have it. And I wanted to make sure that the community could see a sculpture that was well cared for - so that people take notice.

"When sculptures look dreadful you get a lot of anti-social behaviour. You get and disrespect to not only to the sculptor, but to the area that it's placed in. 

"But the thing is that actually investing in sculpture changes that. And I know that for communities like this, art is so unique, and it can bring something to that community. And I wanted to be a part of the that. That's what conservation is about."