He is still revered as one of Scotland's greatest heroes but the Braveheart legend could be heading for a tumble after cracks were found in the ankles of a famous statue of William Wallace.

The 36ft imposing bronze figure, which was built 110 years ago near Aberdeen city centre, now needs to be removed for urgent repairs to prevent it toppling to the ground in years to come.

''Potentially that could happen in perhaps 20 or 30 years time,'' said Mr Charles Murray, the city council's principal officer for museums.

He added: ''The statue was found to have cracks in its feet during recent cleaning work.''

Mr Brian Woodcock, the authority's director of arts and recreation, said: ''During the cleaning of the Wallace monument, investigations were carried out to determine the cause of the severe rust staining on the plinth, emanating from the feet of the bronze figure itself.

''The statue is fixed to the granite base with iron armatures secured inside the legs. These armatures have rusted severely, causing expansion and cracking around the ankles of the figure.''

The repairs will cost around #46,000, and a specialist contractor, Naylor Conservation, has been contacted by the council to carry out the work.

But the final irony for Wallace will be that his iron supports will be replaced by stainless steel - probably from England.

The statue was built at the request of John Steill, a historian who idolised Wallace. He made a provision of #3250 in his will to immortalise his hero. The council was left red-faced last September when cleaning work meant the statue was covered on the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Stirling Bridge.