Vote for the Angel; Google web poll

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), June 20, 2009

Byline: LINDA RICHARDS

IT'S one of Tyneside's favourite icons - and it needs your help.

Gateshead's much- loved Angel of the North needs support to win yet another accolade as part of an online public vote.

Designed by artist Antony Gormley, the Angel is up against 16 other British landmarks in a public vote organised by Visit Britain and web firm Google.

The winner of the vote will become the first landmark to be filmed by the online mapping tool Google Streetview.

One of the biggest and most famous pieces of public art in the world, the statue provides a dramatic welcome for visitors to the North East.

It's thought to be the most viewed sculpture in the world and is seen by more than one person every second as they travel through Gateshead.

Measuring 65 feet high - the height of a five- storey building or four double- decker buses, it weighs a whopping 200 tonnes. Anna Pepperall, public art curator at Gateshead Council said: " The Angel is already one of the most viewed pieces of public art, and we always have so many people interested in the sculpture.

" We celebrated its 10th birthday last year, and over the last decade the Angel has become one of the modern icons of Britain.

" It's one of the most recognisable icons in the world and we know that it's just as loved around the globe as it is here in the North East of England.

" We hope these online photos will give even more people the chance to see this fantastic sculpture, wherever they may be in the world." To vote in the poll visit: www. google. com/ intl/ en/ land - ing/ streetviewtrike/ trike_ vote . html Since its construction in February 1998, The Angel of the North has already won a plethora of national awards, including being voted the sixth wonder of Britain by the RAC; the most recognizable landmark in Britain in a poll by Travelodge and a UK Gov survey rated the Angel as Britain's 2nd favourite landmark..

It's up against other nationwide icons THE Angel is competing against another North East icon, Bamburgh Castle.

Its other competitors are from the length and breadth of the British Isles and are both historic and new landmarks, both natural and man- made.

They are Cheddar Gorge, Colchester Castle, Corfe Castle, Durdle Door, Eden Project, Ironbridge, Kenilworth Castle, Lands End, Leeds Castle, Loch Ness, Millennium Stadium, Pembrokeshire Coast, Stonehenge and Warwick Castle..

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MONUMENTAL: The Angel could be the first monument on Google's Streetview