BRISTOL: A statue of a slave trader toppled by anti-racism protesters in Britain last month was replaced Wednesday - without permission - with a sculpture of a black woman who helped pull it down.

The new statue, showing Black Lives Matter (BLM) protester Jen Reid with her fist raised, occupies the plinth where the Edward Colston likeness stood before crowds threw it into Bristol harbour in southwest England.

Entitled "A Surge of Power" by artist Marc Quinn, the new statue was erected without the knowledge of Bristol City Council.

Reid attended the unveiling and told The Guardian newspaper that it was "just incredible".

"This is going to continue the conversation. I can't see it coming down in a hurry," she said.

The local authority had said previously that any decision to replace the Colston statue would be taken locally, a view reinforced by Bristol mayor Marvin Rees on Wednesday.

"The sculpture that has been installed today was the work and decision of a London-based artist. It was not requested and permission was not given for it to be installed," he said in a statement.

"The future of the plinth and what is installed on it must be decided by the people of Bristol."

The council announced last month it will set up a commission to discover the "true history" of Bristol, one of the British cities most prominently involved with the slave trade in the 17th and 18th centuries. Colston's statue had occupied the plinth since 1895 before being taken down by BLM protesters who took to the streets following the killing of African American George Floyd by police in the US state of Minnesota in May.