An emotional plea by an actress and the Royal Borough's mayor has led to plans for a bronze war horse statue on Ascot's Heatherwood roundabout being given the go-ahead.

Actress Jenny Seagrove addressed Royal Borough councillors on Thursday when they met at the Guildhall to decide whether to allow the statue - which will stand on a two metre high plinth on the roundabout.

It would commemorate the eight million horses who died in the First World War.

Miss Seagrove told councillors: "I'm nervous because this means so much to me. The horses had a job to do but they sometimes kept their riders going - there were real relationships between horse and human.

"These horses went through hell for us."

But there was blistering opposition to the statue from some Ascot residents who have complained about a lack of consultation and regard the planned statue as a waste of money.

Doctor Rod Baylis said: "There is no obvious cause for civic pride here.

"Are the residents of Ascot really interested in horses killed 100 years ago. I doubt it very much.

"If the council has money to spare it should spend it on potholes and care in the community, not squander it on vanity projects."

But the statue had the support of Alan Carr from the War Horse Memorial Project who attended the meeting and crucially from the Royal Borough's mayor Cllr Sayonara Luxton, who stepped down from chairing the meeting while it was being discussed so she could speak for the statue.

She told councillors she wanted to put to rest rumours about the council spending £80,000 on the projected statue. She said money contributed by the authority to the plinth and the landscaping would come from developers' contributions made to the council specifically for art and landscaping projects. The statue itself will be paid for by fund raising.

Her fellow Ascot councillors on the Royal Borough supported the statue.

Cllr Christine Bateson who represents Sunningdale said: "It is a big roundabout and for years it looked like it needed something else on it.

"We have this racecourse but nothing to symbolise it. This statue will symbolise Ascot and the First World War."

The statue won the unanimous support of councillors.

But there were angry scenes outside after the meeting as Ascot and Sunningdale parish council planning chairman Barbara Hilton crossed swords with Alan Carr over the lack of consultation with parish members.