A BRONZE poppy could replace the Forever white marble artwork that collapsed in October 2017.

A new working group has met in Royal Wootton Bassett to decide the fate of the marble poppy, donated by artist Mark Humphries to commemorate the 355 service personnel repatriated through the town.

Made up of three councillors, Robert Anstee, Steve Watts and Marion Sweet, but with a majority of residents from the community, the group is looking to reinstate the poppy in bronze using crowdfunding to cover the costs.

Town councillor Robert Anstee told the Adver: "We decided a better option would be to have it in bronze, so we're looking at how much that is going to cost.

"It would look exactly the same in shape and size, it would just be a different material."

The group was set up to include the town, who have fiercely fought for a say in the poppy's future.

He added."It is resident-led, and we are a point of contact for the council to make sure everything is above board and done properly."

The councillor hopes the poppy, which would be made by local foundries, will be safer.

The former poppy collapsed - captured by CCTV, under its own weight in the middle of the night -which sparked a long-running debate over whether it could be re-instated.

A public consultation in September, which attracted around 80 residents, unanimously voted in favour of returning the original stone poppy inside a metal frame.

"Safety has got to be our main priority here," he added.

"The plinth it stands has no fencing or guard to protect it.

"There are many statues out there that are made from bronze so its highly unlikely anything is going to happen to it."