A BASINGSTOKE dad is part of art history after spending an hour on the plinth in Trafalgar Square.

Pepe Tozzo of Solent Lane, Hatch Warren spent sixty minutes on the empty fourth plinth in the London square as part of sculptor Antony Gormley’s unique One & Other project.

The 48-year-old had been chosen randomly from thousands of people wanting to be part of the installation in which someone is on the plinth every hour, 24 hours a day, for 100 days without a break, doing whatever they like.

Mr Tozzo was one of the first to mount the high stone plinth (pictured above) at 10am last Wednesday.

The information technology specialist held his phone number up to a camera broadcasting the event live online and received text messages and phone calls from across the world. He also sent messages on Twitter and Facebook telling people what he was up to.

The father-of-one said: “It was absolutely amazing, I’m still reeling.

“The hour went so quickly. The night before, I was worried because I didn’t have anything really planned, so I dug out an old mobile and got people to call.

“I had school rooms full of children ringing me up and I got text messages from Dubai and Germany.

“I was also called by This Morning, and was due to speak live on air with Philip Schofield but when I was counted in the line went dead.

“I know it’s a cliché, but it was the experience of a lifetime.”

Mr Tozzo wore a T-shirt bearing the name of disability charity Scope and he used a megaphone to encourage people to donate to the charity. Volunteers also collected money in Trafalgar Square.

The plinth project began on July 6 and is the brainchild of Mr Gormley, who is responsible for the Angel of the North sculpture.

Mr Tozzo is one of 2,400 participants chosen from 13,000 entries. He added: “I’ve put the items I had on the plinth on to eBay and any money raised will go to charity.

“I think the critics who have been against the project and said ‘it’s not art’ are wrong. The whole point was to show a slice of British life.”

Mr Tozzo now plans to cycle from London to Paris on September 9 in aid of Scope. To sponsor him, visit justgiving. com/pepetozzo.