Shakespeare statue returned to Leicester Square

The final stage of a £15.5 million renovation of Leicester Square has begun with the restoration of a 19th-century statue of Shakespeare.

Westminster City Council said expert restorers Paye will remodel the hands and face and the base would be refitted to stop vandals climbing on the statue, which is part of a central fountain.

Rosemarie MacQueen, the council’s director for the built environment, said: “This is a very important project that will be the finishing flourish to a programme of improvements in Leicester Square — and we have brought in the best in the business.”

The square recently reopened with re-landscaped gardens and more than 12,000 metres of new paving.

The council was criticised when four busts of famous Britons, including Sir Joshua Reynolds and William Hogarth, were removed from the square.

They will return in the new year and the restoration of the Shakespeare statue is due to be completed next spring.