A NEW 21st century battle has been launched over King Kong – with Birmingham’s very own John Bull fighting to bring the giant ape back to the Bull Ring.

Eighty years after his world-famous ancestor met a sad end at the summit of New York’s Empire State Building in one of Hollywood’s most famous blockbusters, the latter-day Kong is lying forgotten and unloved in a Penrith car park.

Ray Egan, otherwise known as John Bull, recently undertook a 400-mile round trip from his Birmingham home to launch his campaign to bring Kong back home as part of his bid to become the city’s first elected Mayor.

But Ray faces fierce opposition, with Kong’s market trader owners Spook Erection Ltd determined to stop him in his fight to bring history’s best known fictional primate back to Brum.

Ray said: “I remember King Kong from my market days and he was such a fine sight in Birmingham. Markets are the lifeblood of this city and we want him back.

“As the people’s elected mayor I would campaign to save the markets and bring Kong back home. I would love to see him erected on the gantry above the wholesale markets.

“He has just been dumped in a corner next to the car park. He was once an awesome sight in his Bull Ring days and now he just looks pitiful.”

The 20ft fibreglass statue, originally commissioned for the City of Birmingham sculpture project by the Peter Stuyvesant Foundation, is owned by market trader group Spook Erection, whose founder, the late Nigel Maby, built up the firm to help run markets across the UK.

“I am going to get in touch with Nigel’s widow Lesley and ask if she will donate King Kong to Birmingham and put him up as a memorial to her late husband,” said Ray.

But a spokeswoman for Spook Erection warned Ray was likely to be disappointed.

There are plans for King Kong to be reinstated at the entrance to Penrith Market.

* Should King Kong come back to Brum? email jon.griffin@birminghammail.net