Joanna Lumley will unveil the first permanent memorial to the Gurkhas in Folkestone.

The TV star, a prominent Gurkhas campaigner, will carry out the ceremony at the Folkestone Garden of Remembrance at Sandgate Road at 2pm on Sunday, October 4.

Distinguished guests with her will include the First Lady of Nepal and the country's foreign minister and acting ambassador.

The statue, unveiled in the Gurkha's 200th anniversary year, is seen as a unique memorial to the soldiers for their contribution to the defence of this country.

It also honours them and their families as members of the local community.

Despite being one of the most renowned and respected parts of the British Army, there is currently no permanent memorial for the Gurkhas in Folkestone and very few in the country.

The statue is in particular to commemorate their sacrifice as more than 46,000 have died in service of the country and 13 Victoria Crosses have been awarded to them as members of the British Army.

The project, the work of the Gurkha Memorial Fund, has cost more than £60,000 so far and continued investment is needed for maintenance, upkeep and future engravings.

The bronze sculpture is of a modern Gurkha soldier in combat kit. the type worn in Afghanistan, carrying an SA80 rifle and backpack. All relevant cap badges will be visible and he will hold a Kukri knife. The soldier will be facing east towards Nepal.

Both the statue and granite plinth are 1.8 metres high and weigh 7.5 tonnes and the structure will cover an area of 1.83 square metres. The design is by sculptor Rebecca Hawkins.

To the front the text will read: "The Gurkhas, bravest of the brave, better to die than be a coward." It will be followed by the names of the 13 killed in action since 2000.

To the right hand side there will be an acknowledgement for The Royal Gurkha Rifles, The Queen’s Gurkha Engineers, The Queen’s Gurkha Logistic Regiment, The Queens Gurkha Signal Regiment, The Brigade of Gurkhas and the five cap badges of the Brigade.

Guest from Nepal will include foreign minister Dr Mahendra Bahadur Pandey, First Lady Sujata Koirala and acting ambassador Mr Tej Bahadur Chhetri (all corr)

Gurkha commanders will include Lt. Col. Marcus Reedman, CO of the 2nd Royal Gurkha Rifles.

Among the local politicians will be Folkestone and Hythe MP Damian Collins, his predecessor Lord Howard of Lympne, (Michael Howard) and Folkestone Mayor Emily Arnold.

Miss Lumley, whose father James Rutherford-Lumley was a Major in the 6th Royal Gurkha Rifiles, has been a high profile campaigner for Gurkha rights over the last seven years.

As an actress she is particularly known for the TV comedy Absolutely Fabulous and she shot to fame in the 1970s in the secret agent series The New Avengers.