New statue of computing pioneer Ada Lovelace gets green light

The statue is currently being cast in Basingstoke.

“With a fair wind, we hope to have the statue erected in the next few months,” Mr Rooney added.

The mould has already been used to cast a statue of Lovelace, commissioned by property developers, for a building in Westminster in London.

Mr Rooney said the sculptors who created it, Mary and Etienne Millner, had agreed to allow the mould to be used to replicate the original statue.

He said: “Without that, the cost of the project would have been at least two or three times higher, so we are very grateful to them.”

The has been entirely privately funded, Mr Rooney added.

He said the community interest company had raised £50,000 so far and was hoping to raise a further £50,000 through crowdfunding.