An appeal to raise money to put up a statue in honour of Banbury's famous nursery rhyme "fine lady on a white horse" has been relaunched as an official charity.

From left, artists Andrew Edwards, Carl Payne and Julian Jeffrey with a model of the statue.

The White Horse appeal was set up in September 2002 with the aim of putting up a larger-than-life statue of a white horse at Banbury Cross to illustrate the famous Ride a Cock Horse rhyme.

The fund had struggled to catch the imagination of the public or local businesses. The organisers hope charity status will give the fund more credibility.

Town mayor Rosemarie Higham hosted a coffee morning on Friday in a bid to revive interest in the campaign. Donations totalling £30,000 were handed over to the appeal, taking the fund more than half-way towards its £175,000 target.

Fiona Danks, of the Trust for Oxfordshire Environment, presented a cheque for £15,000.