Bridget Jones statue joins film figures in London's Leicester Square

Bridget Jones has joined Harry Potter, Mary Poppins and Paddington as permanent residents of London's famed Leicester Square.

A new bronze statue of the romantic comedy heroine was unveiled Monday to mark 25 years since the release of the first Bridget Jones film.

Actor Renée Zellweger – who has played the titular character four times since the first Bridget Jones' Diary was released on big screens in 2001 – attended the unveiling along with author Helen Fielding, whose books inspired the films.

The statue, which depicts Zellweger dressed in a mini skirt and clutching a diary and a pen, is the newest addition to the "Scenes in the Square" trail in Leicester Square, the home of numerous international film premieres.

The attraction, launched in 2020 to celebrate a century of cinema, also features statues of Mr Bean, Bugs Bunny, Laurel and Hardy, Batman and Wonder Woman.

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, the fourth film in the franchise, was released earlier this year.