HE'S a household name - arguably the greatest novelist in the world. His stories have been turned into blockbuster movies and TV series - he even has his own theme park.

But there's no statue of Charles Dickens anywhere in Europe, let alone Kent, where he spent much of his life.

And it's by order of the great man himself.

One of the last things he penned was his will. And when it was read in 1870 the nation was shocked to learn that he had forbidden the erection of any monuments of himself.

Now, 138 years later, his last request may be countermanded.

Councillors in Medway want to construct some kind of lasting memorial to honour the author, who came to live in Chatham as a boy and returned to the area to write some of his most famous stories.

It could be sited at Eastgate House, in Rochester, a building used by Dickens in many of his stories and which for many years housed a Dickens' museum

While the issue has turned into a bit of a political wrangle, the Dickens family think that maybe the time has come to ignore their famous ancestor's beyond-the-grave request.

The writer’s great-great-grandson, Mark Charles Dickens, says a statue in England is long overdue.

And what better time to erect it than 2012, the 200th anniversary of his birth.