A FAMOUS face from Bradford's past could soon re-emerge after 11 years in storage.

The well-known statue of William E Forster has not been seen in public since it was removed in 2004, as the old Forster Square - named after him - made way for Westfield's Broadway shopping centre development.

Now plans are being made to install the statue of the renowned education pioneer back into the heart of Bradford, and unveil it at the shopping centre's grand opening later this year.

It will take pride of place in a new Forster Square, facing the shopping centre. The statue will be seen against the backdrop of St Peter’s House as people leave the shopping centre and head towards Little Germany.

Bradford Council, which has been keeping the statue in storage, has brought in a conservation specialist to undertake restoration work so it is looking its best on the big day.

A Council spokesman said: "A specialist is going to come in and clean and repair the statue, clean and repair the bronze and polish it all up."

And she said the foundation stone was now in place on the Westfield site.

William Forster was born in Dorset, but made a name for himself in the woollen manufacturing industry in Bradford, where he also became an MP.

He was largely responsible for the 1870 Elementary Education Act, which paved the way for compulsory education.

Alan Hall, of Bradford Civic Society, welcomed the news that the statue would soon be back on public display.

He said: "I'm very pleased, because I have missed it and I think it is a fine statue.

"It commemorates somebody who was not just locally important, but somebody of national and international importance in terms of what he did for education."

The statue was removed from Forster Square as part of the Connecting the City infrastructure programme to allow the Broadway shopping development to go ahead.

The painstaking removal of the statue by contractors was watched by thousands of people as they passed through the city.

Forster Square itself, the area which gave its name to one of the city's railway stations as well as the nearby retail park, also disappeared to make way for the development.

The Broadway shopping centre, which is expected to create about 2,500 jobs, is set to open in the autumn, but Westfield remains tight-lipped about the official opening date.

Almost 70 per cent of the £260 million centre’s units have now been filled, with prime retailers including Debenhams, Next, H&M and Marks & Spencer signed up.