'Cheese!': Bronze statue of iconic duo Wallace and Gromit unveiled in Preston by creator Nick Park

The Oscar winning creator Nick Park returned to his hometown to unveil the sculpture of the plasticine pair.

A large bronze statue of the iconic, cheese-loving duo Wallace and Gromit has been unveiled in Lancashire.

The bench sculpture is based on the inventor and his loyal pooch as they appeared in short-film 'The Wrong Trousers', and now sits pride of place outside Preston Markets.

Facilitated by Preston City Council, the town's new addition has the backing of Aardman, the Bristol-based studio behind the film franchise.

When the sculpture was first announced in June, Nick Park, said: “It is such a great honour for me, as a proud Prestonian, to see my characters Wallace and Gromit cast in bronze and given pride of place in my hometown.”

Mr Park is a four-time Academy Award winner, three in the category of Best Animated Short Film - Creature Comforts, The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave and one in the category for Best Animated Feature Film for Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

The bench is one of five ‘Pop-Up’ projects being delivered through £1million of funding Preston received from the government’s national Towns Fund. The aim of the project is to encourage people back into the city after the pandemic.

Visitors are invited to share photos of the site online with the hashtag #WallaceGromitBench