Britannia may return to top of Pavilion dome

TORQUAY'S beloved Britannia is safe and sound - being kept under lock and key at a secret location in the bay.

- GUY HENDERSON

The statue of Britannia the iconic female warrior who rules the waves and defends the realm stood at the top of the main dome of Torquay's Pavilion for a century before she was taken down.

Britannia looked out over Tor Bay while the building beneath her feet served as a theatre, an ice rink and later an arcade of shops.

Campaigners fighting to restore the building feared she may have been lost forever as the Pavilion fell into disrepair. Now, though, the man in charge of the painstaking Pavilion restoration project has confirmed not only that Britannia still exists, but also that she might one day return to her 'perch' on top of the building's distinctive dome.