Why does Leicester have a Statue of Liberty?

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On a traffic roundabout in the heart of Leicester is a seventeen feet tall copy of the Statue of Liberty. Commissioned in 1919, this version of the New York icon was made by a local sculptor called Joseph Morcom. But despite being in full view of thousands of people every day, few people know why it’s there, where it stood originally, or its connection to Leicester’s once proud shoe manufacturing industry. BBC Leicester’s Ben Jackson uncovers the story with historian Gurinder Mann from Leicester’s Museums. Produced by Pete Wardman. If you want to know as soon as a new episode is available, make sure you subscribe to Secret Leicestershire on BBC Sounds and have push notifications turned on.