Lovely jubbly: Only Fools and Horses tower could be replaced by gold Del Boy statue after demolition

The planned demolition of a much-loved west London tower block featured in the 1980s sitcom Only Fools and Horses could come with a silver lining for nostalgic fans.

Comedy TV channel Gold has launched a campaign to commemorate the block, called Nelson Mandela House in the show, by erecting a gold statue of Only Fools favourite Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter in its place.

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Harlech Tower in Ealing is due for demolition after planning permission was granted by the council for 1,950 homes in December. It was used to portray the exterior of Nelson Mandela House, although the fictional block was supposed to be in Peckham, 13 miles away.

The campaign, which calls on Ealing Council to permit either the statue or a commemorative plaque to the show, needs 1,500 signatures to be submitted for consideration.

On Thursday morning 235 people had signed the petition, for which initial designs have also been released by the TV channel, showing gold statues of Del Boy and his famous Reliant Robin car.

Initial designs for a gold statue of Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter's Reliant Robin (Source: Gold)

Nelson Mandela House was home to three generations of Trotters during the show, which ran from 1981 until 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials airing until as late as 2003.

Actor John Challis, who played Aubrey “Boycie” Boyce in Only Fools, has thrown his weight behind the campaign, getting into character to urge fans via video message to sign the petition.

“The towers carry a lot of nostalgia for many of us – not just the cast, but everyone who has enjoyed watching the show over the years," he said.

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“While we don’t want to stand in the way of any progress being made, we do want to commemorate the towers’ long-standing connection to Only Fools and Horses and its British comedy legacy.”

Only Fools and Horses ran for seven series, producing 64 episodes plus seven Christmas specials. It holds the record for attracting the biggest TV audience for any British sitcom, when 24.3m people tuned in for the 1996 Christmas special.