The design for a memorial statue dedicated to the nurse and Crimean War heroine Mary Seacole has been chosen.

Artist Martin Jennings created the winning sculpture, which will stand in the grounds of St Thomas' Hospital in central London.

The Jamaican-born nurse was voted the greatest Black Briton of all time in a poll in 2004.

The Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal was set up to create a permanent reminder of the 19th Century nurse.

In 1854, she approached the War Office asking to be sent as an army nurse to the Crimea where there were known to be poor medical facilities for wounded soldiers.

She also visited the battlefield, sometimes under fire, to nurse the wounded, and became known as "Mother Seacole".