SELBY Abbey has launched the next phase of its £4.5 million restoration campaign.

Trustees are now concentrating on the cathedral's magnificent 14th century parapet statues as part of the millennium restoration appeal.

The carved head-and-shoulder figures sit in two spectacular rows on the abbey's external parapets.

Many have become badly worn and some are completely lost, but most remain in a good enough state to allow restoration.

Now trustees are looking for donors to sponsor the refurbishment of the statues.

Appeal director Jeremy Gaskell said: "Time and the elements have invariably taken their toll, but the statues are a very unusual feature and the few we have restored so far look absolutely superb.

""We have decided, therefore, to try and find sponsors for each of the 21 we intend to recarve.

"To mark the project, a silver alms dish - a gift of a Selby Abbey Appeal trustee - has been commissioned on which we will engrave the names of the sponsors.

"This means our sponsors will effectively become part of the history of the abbey." He said each figure would cost £4,000 to refurbish, and suggested families, or work colleagues could join together to sponsor a statue.

He added: "We are also hoping that a number of local businesses might like to have their names associated with the project.

"Very encouragingly, 11 sponsors have so far come forward, which is a great start."

The appeal, which was launched in 2000, has now amassed £3.75 million.

Already, the historic abbey's medieval west front, the great east window, the Latham Chapel and choir aisles have been restored.

The campaign received a £100,000 boost last month after a fundraising drive in the United States.

Three donors donated the cash after the appeal's chairman, Charles Forbes Adam, visited the US earlier this year to promote the work.

Some of the cash went towards repair work on the abbey's Washington Window, which was given to the church by an ancestor of America's founding father, George Washington. It retains the original glass showing the family's coat of arms, made up of the stars and stripes which now form the United States flag.