Beckham to take his place among the gods

There are are those who believe David Beckham was conceived by the stars, but until now no-one has dared give him the status of a god.

All that will change this weekend when "Goldenballs" will be elevated to the ranks of the immortals in the Pantheon, a classical building dedicated to deities and heroes at Stourhead in Wiltshire, one of the country's most spectacular landscaped gardens.

A life-sized painting of England's favourite footballer will be placed amid such omnipotent Greek, Roman and Egyptian beings as Hercules, Bacchus, Isis and Diana as part of celebrations to restore the way the gardens looked more than 200 years ago when they were designed by the landscape gardener Henry Hoare II.

"In those days, people looked to gods and heroes more than they do today, so we wondered who they might look up to in a modern sense," said Katharine Boyd, a Stourhead spokesman. "It had to be David Beckham. "

As part of the event starting on Saturday, long-lost features of the garden will be recreated by drawings and optical illusions."Before we put David in there, we made sure Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, wasn't there too," said Ms Boyd. "After all, David's with Adidas."