Published at 08:33, Thursday, 28 February 2013

A £4.8 million sculpture to mark the border between England and Scotland at Gretna has been given the go ahead.

The Star of Caledonia by Cecil Balmond

The 131ft-high Star of Caledonia, designed by artists Cecil Balmond and Charles Jencks, has received planning consent from Dumfries and Galloway Council.

It will be made of galvanised stainless steel – illuminated at night with “subtle lighting” at its tips – erected in a field next to the M74 opposite Gretna Gateway Outlet Village.

The artists says they were inspired by inventors and innovators in Scotland, including the electro-magnet theory of physicist James Clerk Maxwell.

The sculpture could be completed next year, although only £1m of the £4.8m needed has been secured so far.

Supporters hope the Star of Caledonia can become an iconic landmark like Gateshead’s Angel of the North.

Gretna Landmark Trust, which put in the planning application, says the aim is to be “visually spectacular but meaningful, relating strongly to place and identity”.

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