£250,000 of public money for the four-armed 'Metal Mermaid' that Scots hope will outshine the Angel of the North.

Today a new monster will be sighted in Scotland. 

The towns around Loch Ness have long profited from tourists hoping to glimpse the mysterious lake's rarely-seen inhabitant, but now Cumbernauld hopes for a similar effect from its new 33ft tall metal mermaid.

The final sections of the giant steel sculpture, which aims to help transform the fortunes of the Lanarkshire region, were moved into place this week.

The 33ft high mermaid, named Arria, includes a female form and two swooping arcs and overlooks the A80 northbound to the north of Auchenkilns junction in Cumbernauld.

The £250,000 publicly funded work is the latest in a long line of monolithic sculptures springing up around the country in the name of public art.

Anthony Gormley's Angel Of The North dominates Gateshead, while The Dream, a white stone head overlooks the M62 near St.Helens.

Still in the planning stages is the £2million White Horse at Ebbsfleet. It's salutary that the latter has been designed to be 'at least twice as wide and high as the Angel Of The North', and visible from 20 miles away.

The name for the new work was selected after a competition which asked people living in the area to suggest a title for the work which is part of the next phase in the Cumbernauld Positive Image Project, which aims to revitalise the town. It's derived from the name of Arris Fadilla, mother of Roman Emperor Antoninus for whom the nearby Antonine Wall is named.

Campsies Centre Cumbernauld Ltd (CCCL) - a company established by North Lanarkshire Council to help redevelop the town - has sunk £250,000 of public money into the sculpture created by Andy Scott.

Scott said: 'I am pleased to get to this last stage of the project and finally install her on site.'

'It has been a long and arduous commission for us, with months of very hard work fabricating the form of the sculpture and working with the extensive team of suppliers and contractors.'

Councillor Gerry McElroy, chair of CCCL, said: 'After almost a year of waiting she is now complete and looks fantastic. We are delighted with Arria and Andy has done an amazing job as we knew he would.'

A poem penned by award-winning Scottish poet Jim Carruth is displayed at the foot of the sculpture, which sports a retro hairstyle meant to evoke the optimistic early days of the 1960s-built new town.

Local beautician Amanda McGuinness, 25, said, when asked about the sculpture's power to transform her moribund Lanarkshire hometown': 'Cumbernauld needs burning down and rebuilding, especially the town centre. It needs new shops, new restaurants and new bars..something to liven the place up at night'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1305968/The-Metal-Mermaid-Lanarkshire-Councillors-believe-revitalise-Cumbernauld.html