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A life-size statue in Coleraine of former Manchester United and Northern Ireland goalkeeper Harry Gregg - the hero of the Munich air crash in 1958 when he helped save several passengers from the burning wreckage - was given planning approval on Wednesday.

The statue - which will be of Gregg diving to make a save - was backed at a meeting of Causeway Coast & Glens Borough Council in Coleraine.

The location is The Diamond in the centre of the Co Derry town and it means the statue in honour of 82-year-old Gregg - who lives locally - will be close to an existing statue of former Northern Ireland international and Glasgow Celtic player Bertie Peacock.

The planning application has been submitted by the Harry Gregg Fundraising Committee which includes BBC Radio Ulster football pundit, former Coleraine player Liam Beckett.

Planning officer Shane Mathers told the meeting the statue will show Gregg in a diving pose catching a ball.

Ulster Unionist councillor William King wanted to know if the statue will be in an area covered by CCTV as statues can be subjected to “vandalism”.

Mr Mathers said he was unaware of the area covered by cameras.

DUP councillor Sam Cole said Gregg was “a hero of mine” but wondered if we could end up with such a thing as “ribbon development” of statues.

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However, Mr Mathers said: “I don’t think Mr Gregg will be competing with Mr Peacock”.

And he said unless the council was inundated with requests for statues in The Diamond he didn’t believe one more “will tip the balance”.

The crash claimed the lives of eight United players and 23 people in total.