By Chris Story

Last updated 08:42, Friday, 13 June 2008

An ambitious art project to create an Angel of the North-type landmark on the England-Scotland border has received a crucial cash injection.

The Angel of the North

Supporters want an internationally-renowned and spectacular artwork to form the main gateway between the nations near Gretna.

Dumfries and Galloway Council this week backed the initiative and agreed to ring-fence £50,000 to help design and cost the scheme.

Work to get the project underway is due to cost a total of £130,000 – the remainder of which will be paid for between Scottish Enterprise and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority – with construction potentially worth between £2m and £3m.

Some artists have already expressed an interest in becoming involved.

It is hoped that, once complete, the structure would have a similar impact on the Gretna area as the Angel of the North has had on Gateshead.

Roger Grant, chairman of Dumfries and Galloway’s planning, housing and environment services committee, said: “This project offers a fantastic opportunity to put the area on the map and raise our profile.

“It would be a landmark icon that would be identified with the region and, like the Angel of the North, become a destination in its own right.”

Council officials hope the Gretna Landmark project will tackle the low profile of Gretna and Dumfries and Galloway nationally and internationally.

Statistics show that 60 per cent of visitors to Scotland travel by road – 84 per cent of whom pass Gretna.

The scheme, part of a wider initiative to regeneration the Gretna, Annan and Lockerbie areas in the wake Chapelcross nuclear plant’s rundown, has already attracted interest from the Scottish Government and the Scottish Arts Council, both of which have visited the Gretna on fact-finding missions.

Councillors heard the project presented an opportunity for Gretna to be positioned as the gateway to both Dumfries and Galloway and Scotland. It would also provide an additional attraction to consolidate the already high number of visitors flocking to the marriage mecca.