BRITAIN'S oldest and most prestigious bronze foundry at Lasham near Alton is seeking sponsors to help get its next project - a memorial to the Battle of Britain - off the ground.

The Morris Singer Foundry has been commissioned by the Battle of Britain Historical Society to produce the giant bronze sculpture that will adorn the Victoria Embankment in London.

However, before casting of the massive memorial begins next spring, more than £1.2m needs to be found and to get things under way the foundry has cast a limited set of maquettes or pre-pieces of the final sculpture.

The foundry, which was started in 1848, is world-renowned for its work, having cast famous pieces such as the fountains and lions in Trafalgar Square, the justice on top of the Old Bailey, Boadicea and the chariots outside the Houses of Parliament and many other monuments across the world.

The monument will be sited between the RAF memorial and Westminster Bridge in London on a 25-metre granite plinth, and will feature a relief by the artist Paul Day depicting the 1940 battle in the air along with the names of those who died. Called 'Scramble', it shows pilots rushing to their planes as the fight for the skies got under way.