A man has scaled Antony Gormley’s Fourth Plinth art project in London’s Trafalgar Square, minutes before the event was due to begin.

Serial anti-smoking protestor Stuart Holmes agreed to come down when the first participant was due to start.

London Mayor Boris Johnson said during his opening speech: "This is brilliant, this is what it’s all about."

The One and Other project features a different person standing on the plinth every hour over the next 100 days.

More than 14,500 people have so far applied to take part in the event.

"I think it’s fantastic – it’s about capturing art for the people. It’s about democratising art," Johnson added.

Housewife Rachel Wardell, 35, is the first "living statue" taking part.

As Ms Wardell was being winched into place, Gormley said to Holmes: "I hope you are going to do the gentlemanly thing and when Rachel arrives give up your space."

Holmes was given a round of applause by the crowd when he came down peacefully.

Ms Wardell will be followed at 1000 BST by Jason Clark, a 41-year-old nurse from Brighton.

Other people to take to the plinth on the first day include Jill Gatcum, 51, a consultant from London, Suren Seneviratne, a 22-year-old Sri Lankan student and artist, and Ishvinder Singh Matharu, a 31-year-old optometrist from Chigwell in Essex.

The oldest among July’s 615 participants is pensioner Gwynneth Pedler, 83, from Oxford, who plans to signal with semaphore flags.

While Heather Pringle, a student from Hexham, will celebrate her 20th birthday on the plinth.

Living statues for following months will be announced later, with 2,400 people taking part up to 14 October.

Participants are chosen at random by a computer and can do anything they want on the plinth as long as it is legal.

Applications will be accepted until 1 September when the last group of people are chosen. </p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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