TWO Wollaston schoolchildren are to be immortalised in steel in a new sculpture which is to be sited at the entrance to Stourbridge Library.

Annabelle Lily and Oscar Hamilton-Roderick from St James's Primary School were chosen to star in the artwork, designed by Stourbridge artist Luke Perry, which will be installed later this year upon completion of the multi-million pound scheme to bring Tesco to town.

The community inspired piece of public art, commissioned by Crown Centre developers Bowmer & Kirkland, will see life-sized metallic replicas of the youngsters depicted in Victorian clothing and set into the wall of the new library entrance.

The artwork, which aims to reflect peoples' passion for books and reading, will take the form of hundreds of flying books, cut out of steel and suspended from the ceiling of the new Crown Centre. Characters from fiction will fly alongside Black Country personalities through a new atrium - with the first flying pages and characters emerging from books being held by the relief sculptures of Annabelle and Oscar which will form the base of the artwork.

Artist Mr Perry, who runs not-for-profit company Industrial Heritage Stronghold which creates heritage-inspired public art, picked the two youngsters to feature in the design after leading a series of workshops with children and adults at Stourbridge Library.

Councillor Judy Foster, Dudley's cabinet member for regeneration, said: “The design for this artwork has been truly community driven, and I think it’s fitting that two of our schoolchildren who have contributed to the design will be immortalised in steel to provide an inspiring welcome to the library for their own and future generations.

“I look forward to seeing the unveiling of this artwork and the new entrance to the library and town hall later in the year.”