Agatha Christie to receive West End memorial

Agatha Christie, the bestselling novelist of all time, is to be honoured with a memorial in the West End, in recognition of her lifetime contribution to the arts.

As well as authoring more than 60 books, Christie was a prolific playwright, creating 27 plays during her lifetime, the vast majority of which have been performed in the West End.

The most famous of these, The Mousetrap, is the world's longest running play and will celebrate its 60th anniversary in November this year, around the same time that the 25,000th performance takes place.

In honour of Christie's achievements, a new statue has been commissioned to highlight her career and the contribution she made not only to global literature, but performing arts in general.

The 2.5-metre memorial has been designed by sculptor Ben Twiston-Davies and is cast in bronze, featuring a large book with an oval opening that contains a portrait bust of Christie.

It will be positioned between Great Newport Street and Cranbourn Street in Covent Garden, an area chosen because eight theatres in the vicinity have staged Christie plays over the years, including St Martin's Theatre, the home of The Mousetrap since 1974.