Historic statue gifted to Britain for liberating Poland found in vaults on South Bank

A lost statue given to Britain by Poland in thanks for liberating the country during the Second World War has been unearthed in the vaults of the South Bank.

Historian Marek Stella-Sawicki led a three-year hunt for the two-tonne bronze sculpture of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin. He finally found it last month face down on wooden pallets near former homeless refuge "cardboard city".

Today, it will be unveiled at the Royal Festival Hall by the Duke of Gloucester, whose mother, Princess Alice, the Duchess of Gloucester, unveiled it originally in 1975.

The 2.5-metre high brutalist sculpture by Bronis³aw Kubica, left, had stood on the South Bank for almost 10 years before being put into storage.

Dr Stella-Sawicki, chairman of the Polish Heritage Society, said: "It was moved from place to place while in storage and was forgotten about. I had lost hope in ever finding it but I persevered."

The trail eventually led to an old storage chamber by Waterloo Bridge.