When Bicester Town Council asked the people to put forward suggestions on how they could best mark the Millennium, they received only one. But it was a BIG one, writes GEORGE FREW.

In fact, at a proposed height of 120ft and an estimated cost of a cool £3m, you might say it was a colossal suggestion - and you'd be right. New York has the Statue of Liberty, Paris the Eiffel Tower, London Nelson on his plinth, Egypt its Sphinx and Milton Keynes its famous sculptured cows.

But so far, perhaps Bicester's most prominent contribution to the world's landmarks has been its notorious frozen flock of grazing concrete sheep.

Now, however, at least one resident has decided to think big in the shape of a proposed Colossus, based on the original model which once graced Rhodes.

As you can see from the artist's impression, the proposed 40-metre model would straddle the A41 approach to the town, tastefully clad in a loin-cloth and a spiky crown. Armed with a bow and quiver full of arrows, he appears to be holding aloft some sort of fruit bowl which is clearly aflame.

Some might regard it as a true wonder of the modern world. Others will just wonder at what they see as a true waste of money - which, it is hoped, might be provided from National Lottery funds. Bicester, of course, has a traceable history going back a millennium, so perhaps the best way to mark the occasion of this 1,000 years is by embracing such a grand idea. Just south of Durham on the A1, there's the Angel of the North, after all. So why shouldn't Oxfordshire have the Bicester Big Bloke?

Certainly antiques dealer Jenny Thomas is enthusiastic supporter - but then it was her idea in the first place. She said: "The town needs something to give it a bit of personality and I don't see why the Colossus of Bicester couldn't become one of the wonders of the modern world."

But Bicester Mayor John Hanna isn't nearly as keen on the idea of an 800-ton steel figure welcoming visitors to the town. "The statue would certainly be a landmark that would be seen from miles around," he agrees, "but bearing in mind the immense cost of such a structure, I can't see that there would be a great benefit to the town from such an investment."

The original Colossus of Rhodes was built from the spoils of war, since there was no such thing as a Rhodian national lottery on the go in 300 BC.

It stood for around 75 years until it was toppled by an earthquake.

The steel required for the 800-ton Bicester Big Bloke would take a year to make, but Ove Arup, the engineering firm responsible for the Angel of the North, have confirmed the project is entirely feasible. Whether it's entirely desirable is ano- ther thing altogether.

Perhaps those who object on the grounds of cost might be mollified if the Colossus were built from sponsorship cash. A certain international hamburger chain might be approached and the flaming fruit bowl could be replaced by a huge burger, thereby inevitably leading to the Colossus being known as 'Big Mac'.

Or the world's biggest cola manufacturer could stump up - and the Bicester Big Bloke could be painted red and white and named 'The Steel Thing'.

No doubt this would offend some on the grounds of taste, but marking the Millennium on this scale does not come cheap.

And the words "giant figure" are as likely to apply to the cost as they are to the sculpture itself...

OTHER POSSIBLE GIANT LANDMARKS

CALEDONIAN COLOSSUS: At the Scottish end of the M6, this 120ft model of the greatest living Scotsman, Rab C Nesbitt, would be clad in string vest, head bandage and demob suit and hold aloft a bottle of something toxic in one hand and a fish supper in the other.

MANCHESTER MONOLITH: A 40-metre model of United manager Alex Ferguson with the head of a TV reporter he'd just bitten off between his teeth. Or perhaps a giant Liam Gallagher by the Ship Canal, giving a cheery V-sign.

WONDER OF WALES: Just off the Severn Bridge, this would be a 120ft Sir Harry Secombe, leek in one hand, daffs in the other. When spoken to in Welsh, he would break into a rap version of Land of My Fathers before intoning: "No, I'm not Max Boyce..."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.