Following news that Sefton Council’s Planning Committee has recommended that Antony Gormley’s Another Place installations be removed from a two-mile stretch of Crosby Beach, the campaign to keep the artwork in the UK has been awarded £1m.

The Northern Way – a combination of three Northern Regional Development Agencies – has confirmed that a conditional offer had been made of £1m to safeguard the future of Another Place, which consists of 100 cast-iron sculptures.

The offer of £1m is conditional on securing additional funding and the relevant planning permission and is valid until 1 December 2006.

The planning committee made its decision to deny permanent permission to Another Place on 18 October, although other officers said the licence should be extended.

However, the council’s chief executive, Graham Haywood, has now said that the council will not enforce the removal of the statues as a planning appeal is currently pending from Another Place Limited (APL) – the organisation established to find out whether the statues would be permanently viable or not.

APL also intends to launch a public consultation to establish why concerns were raised about the sculptures and is in the process of putting forward a permanent planning application.

It is understood that the sculptures have so far attracted more than half a million people to the area. Details: www.antonygormley.com