BUSINESSES in the Canterbury area are being urged to support an appeal to provide life-size statues of King Ethelbert and Queen Bertha, the Anglo-Saxon rulers of Kent. They were the royal couple who welcomed Augustine to Canterbury and gave him land on which to build a cathedral.

Canterbury Commemoration Society wants to put two bronze statues of them in Lady Wootton's Green and landscape the site to provide a new city garden. Patrick Crouch, sculptor and tutor at Canterbury's Kent Institute of Art & Design, said: "The origins of public sculpture in Britain began in Canterbury and its surrounding churches and particular evidence can be seen in the crypt of the Cathedral and in Patrixbourne and Barfreston. It is a shame that this great tradition has been only sporadically maintained since the medieval period."

All the higher education organisations in Canterbury have contributed to the cost of the plaster maquettes for the planned statues of Ethelbert and Bertha. KIAD has sponsored the full colour appeal leaflet for the project. Duncan Scott, artist and KIAD representative on Canterbury Commemoration Society committee, which is spearheading the fund raising for the statues, said: "It is heartening that, with donations and pledges from individuals, local institutions, societies and the Church, the appeal has already achieved more than 25 per cent of the target.

"If the local business and professional community and commercial enterprises in the region now come forward as major donors, this exciting initiative, with its historical, ecclesiastical and cultural resonance for Canterbury and Kent, can be swiftly realised."

Those who would like to make a donation to the appeal should send a cheque made payable to The Canterbury Commemoration Society to the chairman Martin Taylor, Elm House, Adisham, Kent CT3 3LH.