An iconic sculpture of a Phoenix rising from the ashes could find a place on the Furness skyline if an ambitious plan stirs support.

Dalton-based Alice Leach, of the Barrow Civic and Local History Society, is hoping to find backers for her vision for Furness's answer to the famous Angel of the North at Gateshead.

"It could attract tourists and get the message across that we are trying to regenerate the whole of the area from the industrial era," she said.

Mrs Leach hit on the Phoenix theme following workshops held as part of a Barrow heritage conference that discussed creating an icon for the area.

"I'm imagining a big steel structure but with colour," she enthused. "All the purple, red and gold described in the mythical Phoenix. People would be able to see it for miles around and, when the sun shone on it, it would be beautiful."

In a similar vein to the 65ft Angel of the North sculpture that towers over the A1, Mrs Leach thinks the Furness Phoenix could be sited in an elevated position visible from the A590, perhaps outside Dalton or further towards Barrow.

"At the moment people come to Dalton zoo, they go to Colony Candles at Lindal but for many of them, that's as far as they go. It needs to be somewhere along there to tempt them further."

Although the plan is at its embryonic stage, Barrow Borough Council leader Terry Waiting has already welcomed the idea as something the authority should consider while Stuart Klosinski, of Furness Enterprise, said it was an idea "worth investigating".

Mrs Leach has already commissioned Dalton artist James Askew to come up with a design and is hoping the civic society will adopt the sculpture as the project for this, its 20th anniversary year.

To see the Phoenix rise, she is also aiming for high-brow backers and has written letters requesting support from Cumbrian-born arts champion Lord Melvyn Bragg and Lord Cavendish of Furness.

A celebrity for the unveiling ceremony is already in her sights - the star of the aptly named Phoenix Nights, comic Peter Kay.

Mr Kay is an occasional visitor to Barrow where his aunt runs a fish and chip shop.

But before he can be booked, there is the matter of financing such a scheme, which is likely to make even those with cavernous pockets wince. Gateshead's Angel cost nearly £800,000, a bill met by the local borough council plus National Lottery and Arts Council grants.

To open discussions, a request for a meeting between the society and the agency backing Barrow's dock redevelopments - West Lakes Renaissance - is already in the post.