Call for driver tribute

Ken Wharton, who was 41, died while racing in New Zealand. He was born in Smethwick and owned a garage on the Bearwood Road for a number of years.

He started out in Formula One in 1952 and raced until 1955 where his last race was in Italy.

After that he raced in virtually all forms of motor sport including hill climbing where he wrote himself into the history books.

He became the only person to be the British Hill Climbing Champion on four successive years.

But it was while he was racing in New Zealand in 1959 that he sadly crashed and died while driving a Ferrari.

Now the Smethwick Local History Society has launched a campaign to get his life commemorated.

The campaign is being backed by Sandwell's deputy leader Steve Eling.

He said: "Everything is still very much in its early days but I support the campaign wholeheartedly.

"I remember as a lad seeing the garage that he ran. It was a Ford dealership and was extremely popular on the Bearwood Road."

Councillor Eling said it was part of a general campaign to get famous people from the Sandwell area commemorated in some way.

Last month a statue to West Bromwich-born film star Madeleine Carroll was put up next to The Public arts centre in the town.

And there are plans to name a street on a new housing estate being built in Cape Hill after sailor Bill Savage, who was awarded the Victoria Cross in the Second World War.