A new £3.5m monument will be built at London's Green Park in order to recognise the contribution of Bomber Command during World War Two.

Westminster City Council's (WCC) planning applications sub-committee approved the memorial plans, which were drawn up by Liam O'Connor Architects and Planning Consultants. Sited at the Piccadilly entrance to the Grade II-listed park, the proposed 8.5m (28ft) monument is designed to commemorate the 55,573 air force personnel who lost their lives during World War Two.

The memorial - put forward by the Bomber Command Association, with help from the Royal Air Force and the Heritage Foundation - will be an open pavilion designed in a classical style. Although the memorial's roof will be left open, the roof of the loggia is to be made from melted-down aluminium from a Halifax bomber, which was shot down over Belgium in 1944.

A sculpture of seven aircrew by Philip Jackson and 25 new trees also form part of the plans, while the memorial will boast an inscription of a speech made to Parliament by Winston Churchill in 1940. Alistair Moss, chair of WCC's planning applications sub-committee, said: "This monument has been designed to be in keeping with the near by classical architecture and its timeless quality should ensure that it soon becomes as synonymous with London as icons such as Marble Arch and Nelson's Column."