High Wycombe's iconic red lion is standing proudly over the High Street once again after a grand unveiling on St George's Day.

The crumbling relic was removed from its portico in August last year and now after months of restoration work, is taking pride of place in the town centre once again.

Crowds of well-wishers gathered in the town at 12.30pm on Sunday to watch master carver, Colin Mantripp - who has spent months painstakingly restoring the statue at Lillyfee Woodcarving Studio in Wooburn - unveil it.

MP Steve Baker, High Wycombe mayor Zia Ahmed, Jackie Kay, chairman of the High Wycombe Society and a host of councillors and former mayors joined the celebrations, which saw a Union Jack flag draped proudly on the portico.

The iconic lion, which has more than 200 years of history, played host to Benjamin Disraeli and Winston Churchill, who both made election speeches standing on the portico next to the statue – Disraeli in 1832 and Churchill in 1945.

In a speech before the lion was revealed, Mr Baker said the statue serves as a “long-term reminder of everything we can be proud of.”

He said: “In Disraeli and Churchill, we see that it is necessary from time to time in the course of the life of our magnificent country to take up great causes.

“I will always remember when I see this statue that the same roots of our liberty remain strong and that we do not yet know what great branches this tree of prosperity will bring forth.”

Cllr Ahmed added that he was “delighted” to see the lion returned to the High Street after months of renovations.

More than £10,000 was raised by the people of Wycombe to fund the restoration work with money now being set aside for regular maintenance checks on the lion to ensure it never returns to its neglected state.

Jackie Kay, who helped lead the campaign, confirmed that £10,006 was raised through donations as of Sunday afternoon – but two further generous donations from readers on Monday morning have now taken the total to £10,116.

She said: “I have been very privileged to have been closely involved in this project. Without Colin’s [Mantripp] initiative the lion would probably already be unsalvageable. He warned us that it would not survive another winter without attention and I think he was right.

“We have paid out for the restoration in full. We have £1,600 in our account that is being put towards future maintenance. We wanted to secure the future of the lion not just do a one-off repair.”

The Wycombe Heritage and Arts Trust is now tasked with the ongoing maintenance of the statue. 

Chairman, Simon Kearey, said: "We are very pleased to take on the future restoration and maintenance of the Red Lion and we will never let it get into the situation it has done over the last few years.

"We hope to inspire the growth and development of this fantastic town that I have got a privilege to live in."