Memorial sculpture of Uley's gorilla John Daniel approved

A sculpture honouring a gorilla who lived in a Cotswolds village will be erected after receiving local approval.

The ape, called John Daniel, was adopted by Alyce Cunningham, from Uley, Gloucestershire, in 1918 after her brother bought it for £300 in London.

The animal was raised like a normal child, had its own bedroom and could use the light switch and toilet.

Stroud District Council has now granted planning permission for a sculpture of the ape on Uley village green.

The Uley Society's Dr Rod White said he hopes it will be formally unveiled "sometime in September or very early October".

John Daniel was captured as a baby in Gabon and brought to the UK, where Ms Cunningham's brother Rupert Penny saw it for sale in a department store.

She adopted the ape and nicknamed him Sultan.

Uley village archivist Margaret Groom said the villagers were very fond of him, and John would play with children, eat roses from gardens and drink cups of tea.

Once it grew to adult size Ms Cunningham could no longer look after it so, in 1921, she sold it to an American for one thousand guineas.

The gorilla died of pneumonia in the USA a year later.

She thought it would be sent to a home in Florida, but instead the ape ended up in Barnum and Baileys Circus.

There its health deteriorated, with reports reaching Ms Cunningham that the animal was pining for her.

She set sail for New York but the gorilla, by now aged four-and-a-half, died from pneumonia before she arrived.