London Mayor Boris Johnson has emerged as a an unlikely candidate to be depicted on Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth as a parting gift from his own office.

The plinth, which has remained without a permanent statue for more than 150 years, has in recent years temporarily displayed the work of artists thanks to a project run by the Mayor of London's Culture Team since 2005.

And getwestlondon has learnt that the outgoing mayor himself is set to be recreated in statue form to be displayed for a brief period in May, in recognition of his eight years in office.

The Uxbridge and South Ruislip MP, who was this week made the favourite with bookmakers to succeed David Cameron as Prime Minister, has become a household name since taking office in 2008, and has made numerous entertaining appearances on TV, including a sketch in March's Sport Relief BBC show.

He even recently offered a personal message of support to a young girl fighting cancer, who had nicknamed her tumour Boring Boris.

Boris is said to be 'surprised and flattered' at the plans to unveil the statue, which will be on display from the mayoral election polling day on May 5 for around a month, before the next piece of art - David Shrigley's art piece Really Good - replaces it.

Unconfirmed rumours suggest the Boris statue will be sat astride one of his Boris Bikes.

Who would have thought Boris, seen her promoting the Fourth Plinth Commission, would end up being one of the art pieces?! (Pic: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

The latest icnonic figure for the plinth

There are plinths on each of the four corners of the square. Sculptures of Henry Havelock and Charles James Napier occupy the respective southern corners, while a statue of George IV is on the north-eastern one.

The fourth, however, has remained without a permanent piece of art since it was erected in 1841, after a planned equestrian depiction of William IV failed to materialise due to funding issues.

The Fourth Plinth Project, that ran from 1999-2001, saw a series of creations by artists temporarily placed on the empty plinth, and this was followed by the Fourth Plinth Commission, which has put a new string statues on display.

The current statue is a skeletal horse called Gift Horse by Hans Haacke, which was unveiled in March 2015.

Of course, this was an April Fools Day story. For more on today's best joke stories in west London and beyond, click here.