Long-awaited plans to unveil a fitting memorial to Saints' greatest hero Ted Bates were gathering pace last night.

The Daily Echo can reveal that Saints chairman Rupert Lowe is to canvass opinion among the club's fans in order to decide the best way to honour the legend.

And an exclusive Echo poll has already revealed the overwhelming choice is a commanding full-size statue of Bates outside St Mary's.

The Southampton City Council has already given fresh impetus to the plan by stating that, in principle, there would be no planning objection to a statue.

Last week, all parties at a council meeting also passed a motion unanimously supporting the idea of a bronze statue of Bates with St Mary's the preferred choice of the fans.

It is now up to the club to submit a proposal to the council for their consideration.

Lowe has welcomed this news but insisted yesterday he was going to seek the views of all fans' groups before taking the matter further.

The chairman is giving consideration to three options - a statue, a bust of Bates by the ground, or renaming Britannia Road after the former Saints sup-remo, who died last November at the age of 85.

He had served the club for 65 years, having joined in 1937.

Lowe said: "The key is to speak to everyone. It maybe some fans would prefer Britannia Road to be named after Ted and, if a statue is a problem with health and safety, we may have to look into having a bust of Ted by the stadium.

"But in every way possible, the club would like to honour a man who helped to put us where we are today."

Reacting to the latest developments, Bates's widow Mary said the family would be honoured if a statue of her late husband was to be built outside the stadium.

Mrs Bates said: "We would be very honoured indeed. We haven't discussed it too much as a family, or taken much notice of the things that have been written or said, but if it happened, it would be extremely nice.

"As a family, we don't need a statue of Ted to remember him but, if the people of Southampton would like it, that's all very well and good."

We asked a wide cross-section of Saints fans whether they would prefer:

1 The renaming of Britannia Road

2 A statue outside St Mary's

3 A bust by the ground

Response: 1) 18% 2) 76% 3) 6%

You can still make your views known by voting on www.thisissouthampton.co.uk (at the bottom of the page)