A statue of Christopher Marlowe will take pride of place in Canterbury city centre after the project was green-lit by the council.

The famous playwright will be immortalised in an abstract iron sculpture beside the St George's clocktower - where he was baptised.

The vision to commemorate the city's "bad boy" - who was a government agent as well as a dramatist - was first unveiled a number of years ago but has faced a series of delays.

Now, however, the team behind the project have been given the go-ahead to install their larger-than-life statue in a prime location.

It will take up residence at the top end of the high street, replacing a digital information board outside Halifax and Caffe Nero.

The city council rubber-stamped the plans this week after no objections were lodged - paving the way for work on the statue to begin.

It will be of similar design to the rusting look of the iron bull in Tannery Field, and will be created by the same sculptor, Steven Portchmouth.

In evaluating the project, council planning officers weighed up its impact on the city's World Heritage status and whether it would be suitable for one of the busiest areas of the high street opposite Fenwick.

A decision notice from officers states: "It will sit in a prominent position within the street scene along St George's Street. However, due to its height and position it will not impede any key views towards the identified heritage assets.

"The significance of the Grade II-listed scheduled monument of St George’s clocktower is its association to Marlowe, therefore the location of the statue is considered to be appropriate as he has a direct connection to the site.

"The proposed statue is therefore considered to be acceptable and would preserve the setting of the listed buildings."

Designs of the statue show Marlowe holding up the masks of Tragedy and Comedy, while also grasping a dagger as he fears an approach from his left - conveying his life as both a playwright and a government agent.

It will stand on a plinth which allows for seating around the base, and Marlowe's famous poem 'Come Live With Me and Be My Love' is to be engraved around the bottom.

Those behind the scheme - Canterbury Christopher Marlowe Statue Committee - hope it can help the city celebrate its dramatist in the way in which Stratford recognises Shakespeare.

It is planned to become a landmark that can be used as a "social meeting or even trysting point", and is hoped to be graffiti-proof.

Marlowe was born in 1564, and his family are thought to have owned a house in St George's Lane, where the city's Fenwick department store now stands.

'The proposed statue is considered to be acceptable and would preserve the setting of the listed buildings...'

He was baptised at St George’s Church, of which only the clocktower still stands.

The city's biggest theatre is named after the playwright.