THE statue of Gwent sporting legend Ken Jones has finally been fixed in place.

The statue was unveiled in front of more than 100 people on March 28 in Blaenavon, but was taken down just two hours later.

The statue to the Wales and Newport rugby player and Olympic athlete was taken down due to technical problems in fixing the statue to the plinth.

On Monday, after a sevenweek wait, the statue has been put in place and extra support added to make it more secure.

The statue was installed after two years of fundraising by a Blaenavon-based committee, made up of town councillors and residents.

The group was awarded an £80,000 National Assembly Heads of the Valleys grant to complete the project, which was added to the £15,000 the committee raised.

Among the crowds on the day were the members of the Ken Jones committee, the mayor of Torfaen, Cllr Wayne Tomlinson, and mayoress Erika Tomlinson, the mayor of Blaenavon, Gareth Davies, and sculptor Laury Dizengremel.

Mr Jones’ widow, Irene, and son, Philip, were present to unveil the statue.

Mrs Jones was overcome and tearful upon seeing the piece and reading the memorial plaque.

Joining them were representatives from the Welsh Rugby Union Mal Beynon and Dennis Gethin, representatives of Newport Rugby Club David Watkins and Dennis Bennett, and secretary of the Welsh Charitables RFC David Power.

Mr Jones, who died in 2006 at the age of 84, was a rugby great who played on the wing for Newport and Wales, and who also won an Olympic silver medal with the Great Britain 4x100m relay team at the 1948 Games in London.