Eros, the Shaftesbury Memorial in London's Piccadilly

»When Eros’s bow on the famous Piccadilly statue became bent, one of the south-east’s leading heritage and monument maintenance specialists was tasked with putting it back in line.

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As part of the West One Infrastructure Services joint venture group, FM Conway, based in Dartford, was contacted to take on the tricky task of fixing the 8ft tall Shaftesbury Memorial, more commonly referred to as Eros.

The company supplies a range of maintenance services to Westminster City Council including the cleaning and maintenance of important heritage structures and statues, such as Eros, recognised worldwide as an iconic London landmark.

‘Pleased’

Expert staff replaced the misshapen bow with a spare version which was in storage. The original bow was then repaired and kept in reserve, ready to be put back in place should Eros’s target once again go astray.

Six months later, FM Conway put the original bow back in place, taking the spare down for repair.

Andy Foster, service manager for bridges and structures for the council, said: “The council is very pleased with the repair work carried out to the bow.

“The memorial has been returned to its original condition and continues to be enjoyed by visitors and Londoners alike.”

Repairing and replacing Eros’s bow represented a technical challenge for FM Conway’s specialists who consulted English Heritage before completing the month-long project.

Following consultation, indirect heat treatment was applied to the bow to bend it back into shape without compromising its structure or its appearance. FM Conway took a further resin mould of the original bow, meaning that a third version is now in storage ready for use should the two existing bows become damaged.

The Shaftesbury Memorial was erected in 1893 to commemorate the work of Lord Shaftesbury, a Victorian politician and philanthropist.

Named after the popular Greek god, the statue was the world’s first to be cast in aluminium and is set on a bronze fountain.