The creator of Sherlock Holmes, the fictional detective who has captivated readers for decades, is to be commemorated in the Sussex town where he lived for 23 years.

More than 60 years after his death, permanent homage is being paid to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in Crowborough with a life-size bronze statue.

The £46,000 project has taken portrait sculptor David Cornell a year to turn into reality after four years beset by wrangles over funding.

But the 6ft 4in statue will finally be unveiled on Saturday at Cloakes Corner, Crowborough, where Doyle lived until his death there in 1930.

It was while overlooking the golf course at Windlesham Manor that he penned a number of his masterpieces.

Mr Cornell, 65, said: "As a boy growing up, Sherlock Holmes was so fascinating and I particularly loved seeing the films at the cinema.

"When Crowborough Town Council commissioned me to design it I thought it would be a nice way to dedicate this man."

The path to creating the statue has been an exhaustive one due to a lack of cash.

When National Lottery funding was refused, a fund-raising trust was set up to raise donations through selling miniature versions of the statue. As the cash became assured, David's work started in earnest.

Mr Cornell, of Innham's Wood, Crowborough, said: "It has been quite hard to make because aside from the financial difficulties with this project, sculpting is very labour-intensive as there has been no modernisation of the processes.

"Also I only had a few very scrappy photographs of Doyle to work from and most of those were very early ones of him.

"The physical changes in him from his early to late years were so dramatic that it made the photos very difficult to work from."

The work will be added to an illustrious list of designs Mr Cornell has crafted in his 40-year sculpting career, which has seen him work with Pablo Picasso, Henry Moore and Salvador Dali.

It began when London-born Mr Cornell studied at the Central School of Art in London before going on to further studies in Pennsylvania in the US and in France. He worked with several distinguished artists in the Seventies but was particularly taken with Dali.

Mr Cornell said: "He would put on this great pompous act when people were around him but when he relaxed he was just a normal man. I suppose it was a publicity thing.

"I wish I were a bit more like that. It was great fun in those days when I used to fly all around the world meeting and working with such fascinating people."

Yesterday the Conan Doyle statue was put in place at Cloakes Corner, covered by a hoarding before Saturday's unveiling.

A military fanfare of bugles from the Light Division from Winchester, Hants, will herald the unveiling in front of more than 300 guests.

Civic leaders said the statue would act as a worldwide focus for Doyle fans.