THE people of Worcester have the chance to choose their favourites from a list of famous faces for statues to feature in the city's Cornmarket.

The statues will feature as part of a £500,000 revamp of the city's Cornmarket by Worcestershire County Council.

King Charles II, the author Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare are just a few of the names that have been put forward for the public to vote on.

But people are also being invited to nominate any other local personalities from Worcester's past they would like to see commemorated in this way.

The plan is to incorporate at least four metal art silhouettes of renowned characters and to have them standing in the new square, just as they might have done when they were alive.

The artwork, titled The People, will be similar in size and style to the metallic sculptures near the Diglis Bridge in Worcester.

The eight famous names put forward by Worcestershire County Council are:

• Vesta Tilley (Matilda Alice Powles), a music hall star born in Worcester in 1864 who was once one of the world's best paid women entertainers

• Reverend Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy, nicknamed 'Woodbine Willie', the vicar of St Paul's Church who in 1915 was given permission by the Bishop of Worcester to become an army chaplain. He earned his nickname by giving out the Bible and packets of Woodbine cigarettes to send off soldiers on the troop trains at Rouen in France

• King Charles II, who hid in King Charles House in New Street before fleeing to France at a time when Worcester was the setting for the last English Civil War conflicts between the Royalists and Parliamentarians

• Antonin Dvorak, the Czech composer who conducted his choral work, the Stabat Mater, to great acclaim in the Public Hall in the Cornmarket in 1884

• Charles Dickens, who visited the Public Hall in the Cornmarket twice in 1867 to read his works

• William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway, who records suggest married at St Martin's in the Cornmarket. This was hastily arranged as Anne was believed to be with child

• Jenny Lind – the 'Swedish Nightingale' who sang in the Public Hall to raise funds for the chapel to be built at Worcester Royal Infirmary

Worcestershire County Council spokesman, Jon Fraser, said: "We want people to tell us their three favourite personalities from Worcester's history who they would like to see standing as silhouette-statues in the Cornmarket in the future. They can either pick from our list of famous faces who would undoubtedly have spent time in the Cornmarket, or make alternative suggestions.

"We are sure that these statues will greatly enhance the character of the Cornmarket once they are in place and are sure to be a talking point for residents and visitors."

People are being invited to vote and give their responses online at www.worcestershire.gov.uk/cornmarket which also includes a newsletter about the Cornmarket Public Realm Improvement Scheme and will provide more information and updates. The closing date for people to submit their preferences is May 31, 2015.

Alternatively people can return the response form at the back of the printed newsletter which been delivered to businesses around the square and is also available at County Hall reception.

The revamp of the Cornmarket, which started earlier this month and will end in the summer, is part of the first phase of the county council’s Worcester Transport Strategy and has been developed jointly with Worcester City Council.

It involves reconstruction of Queen Street (south), New Street (north) and the Cornmarket, new lighting and street furniture, electrical supplies (to support the Victorian Christmas Fayre and other events) and improved loading and parking arrangements.

Information and updates on the scheme can be found on www.worcestershire.gov.uk/cornmarket