HAVERFORDWEST-BORN Batman legend Christian Bale is to be immortalised with a 12ft statue in the centre of his home town, the Western Telegraph can exclusively reveal.

Bale, 41, is understandably proud of his Pembrokeshire roots and is said to be delighted the go-ahead has been given for the £142,015 statue.

Bale was born in Haverfordwest in 1974 when his father was stationed at what was then RAF Brawdy.

It is not known if he has been back to the county since, but his friend Russell Crowe once filmed Robin Hood in Pembrokeshire.

The statue, to be finished in fetching gold, will feature the famous black cape billowing in the wind and will take pride of place in Castle Square, guarding Subway from adversaries the evil Joker and The Penguin, from Folly Farm.

It is hoped the statue will become a huge tourist attraction for Haverfordwest which, like Gotham City, has seen some tough times in recent years.

Local ward councillor Wayne Broose, said: “The choice was between Batman or Suggs who went to Tasker Milward School, so it wasn’t a difficult decision, despite my love of the classic Madness hit Baggy Trousers.

“Castle Square has seen some drunken trouble in the past and hopefully the sight of a massive Dark Knight looking down on them will make revellers think carefully before taking things too far.”

The Western Telegraph can also reveal that the Batman statue is just the first phase of a proposed ‘Bale Trail’.

The idea is for a series of statues to be placed around the county town featuring Bale in some of his most famous roles, including John Connor in ‘Terminator’ and that little boy from ‘Empire of the Sun’.

Additional funding is being sought to purchase a Bat-Signal to be placed at Haverfordwest Castle to project the famous bat symbol into the night sky.