A local council is investing in the future of a Grade-II listed statue dating back to 1924 after it was damaged by bad weather.

Marlow Town Council is planning to apply a special cover to the Frohman Memorial statue on The Causeway to shield it from wind and rain following recent damage that has posed the risk of "expensive future repairs".

The statue, of a nymph gazing in the direction of the River Thames, was created by Leonard Stanford Merrifield in 1924 in memory of Charles Frohman, an American theatre director who died in the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915.

Despite living across the pond, Frohman harboured a great love for Marlow, visiting the town every summer from 1900 and once declaring it to be "the most beautiful spot in the entire world".

A spokesperson from Marlow Town Council said the decision to apply a new cover to the statue had been accelerated by the recent wintry freeze-thaw cycle.

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They added that the three-layer cover, recommended by conservators at Cliveden Conservation, would "help us (to) positively and proactively preserve this icon for generations to come".

Mayor of Marlow, David Brown, said: "This is a powerful monument defining an 'Object of Culture' and representing Buckinghamshire's young and old generations, through world war crisis to the joy of youthfulness and new life.

"It's important (for) everlasting hope as well as (being) an important landmark for our residents."