THE last surviving member of the Jarrow March looked on as a statue was unveiled in his and his comrades' honour yesterday.

Cornelius Whalen, 91, said: "It makes me proud to see it."

The bronze statue, named the Spirit of Jarrow, depicts two of the protestors, plus a mother and baby, two children, and the mongrel dog which became the marchers' mascot.

The statue has been unveiled in the town in the 65th year since 200 crusaders marched to London, to protest against unemployment at the height of the Depression.

Mr Whalen said: "When 200 of us set off for London in 1936, we didn't know we were entering the history books. We did it because we were desperate for work and we wanted Stanley Baldwin's government to know it. This is a very fitting tribute to what happened, and it makes me proud to see it."

The woman and baby depicted in the sculpture are Emily Robb and her son, Ben. She had gone to wave off her husband Bob, a jobless labourer struggling to bring up ten children.

Mr and Mrs Robb's daughter, Cora Corr, 73, was at the unveiling, with MP Stephen Hepburn yesterday.

She said: "The statue brought it all back."

It was made by Graham Ibbeson, 50, of Barnsley, who also created the statue of Eric Morecambe, in Morecambe, Lancashire. It was commissioned by Morrisons, which has just opened a supermarket in the town's Viking Centre, creating 300 jobs.