THE Southampton Bargate lions have been returned to their former glory.

For 278 years they stood watch over the city, and now Southampton's Bargate lions are back on their plinths with a facelift following restoration to how they looked in 1743.

For many years the lions have been a dull black, but detailed forensic work has revealed that the original colour scheme was much more life-like.

The lions made a return yesterday morning and now stand proud in the city centre.

Conservator Rupert Harris, in whose workshop the conservation was done, said it was the fashion in the mid-18th century to paint statues as if they were alive, and the Bargate lions were no exception.

Here is a gallery of how the Bargate lions were installed.