The bombardment of coastal towns during the Second World War left its mark across Sussex - not least on an imposing statue of Queen Victoria.

For years, the bronze monument to the late monarch has stood overlooking the sea at Warrior Square, St Leonards.

But Victoria would not have been amused by the mark Hitler's forces left on the statue's skirt.

A bullet hole left in the skirt is now the centre of attention for council bosses who plan to highlight it during a clean-up operation.

The hole is just visible to eagle-eyed pedestrians but new plans could make it unmistakable.

A Hastings Council working party is looking into illuminating the statue with floodlights and installing a plaque referring to the damage.

John Kay, senior conservation officer, has been investigating the statue's history.

He said: "We believe the statue was hit during the war by a bullet from an ME109 Messerschmidt fighter plane.

"A lot of the seafront suffered damage during that time and this is a reminder of that.

"The idea is to leave the bullet hole as part of the history of the statue."

Mr Kay is currently working with Hastings Museum to uncover the full details of the statue's past.

He is appealing for anyone with information or memories of it to contact the curators.

The council's Cabinet has approved a £5,500 clean-up operation for the statue, which has suffered from a bombardment of a different kind since the war.

Droppings from the town's healthy population of seagulls have left their mark, as have traffic fumes.

There has been the odd attack from drunken revellers with traffic cones and recent work on a new stormwater tunnel also left its mark.

The restoration will be paid for out of Southern Water compensation funds.