A campaign to replace two 600-year-old church statues that were lost almost 60 years ago has been given a boost thanks to a donation from Cotswold District Council. The statues from the tower of the St John Baptist Church in Cirencester were removed in 1963 due to safety concerns and mysteriously disappeared in the years that followed. The project to replace the historic statues is being funded by grants and donations from local organisations, including the council. Project Blackjack involved a national design competition and international sculptor Rodney Munday has been chosen to create the designs for the two new statues. The council’s donation comes after free parking was introduced in some car parks across the Cotswolds.