The cast iron figures should have left Crosby beach in November

The council had wanted the cast iron figures on Crosby beach removed amid safety concerns but agreed to await the recommendations of a planning appeal.

The decision would be a u-turn by the council, which will vote on the plan next Wednesday.

The Another Place statues were due to be taken to New York in November 2006.

The art installation has become a popular tourist attraction.

Sefton Council turned down an initial application to keep the 100 figures after concerns raised by the coastguard for public safety.

Three teenage girls, trying to get a close look at the statues, had to be rescued when they were trapped by the tide.

It is believed that the report may recommend that those statues in more hazardous locations are relocated elsewhere on Crosby beach.

The life-size casts, at scattered locations over three kilometres, are visible when the tide is out but submerged when the water is in.