Katherine Jenkins has called for a statue to be erected in honour of the late Dame Vera Lynn

She told HELLO! magazine: "It would be lovely to have a statue in Dame Vera's honour and I can't think of a better place for it than the White Cliffs of Dover. It would be quite spectacular to see something there paying tribute to her amazing life and all the hearts she touched with her voice."

Katherine and Vera first met at the VE Day 60th anniversary concert in London in 2005, where they shared an "emotional" moment.

The Welsh star recalled: "I knew I'd be closing the show with 'We'll Meet Again' but had no idea Dame Vera would be interviewed just before I sang.

"When I was performing the live finale, I saw her there in the wings. It felt wrong because this was her song, so I walked over to her, grabbed her hand and led her to the front of the stage. "The audience was full of veterans and their families and it was a really emotional moment.

And it was a discussion the pair had backstage afterwards that led to Katherine embarking on trips to entertain troops overseas.

She said: "Later, we stood backstage and talked. She explained how important it was to have these morale-boosting concerts in the places where they needed it...

She had this incredible sense of doing the right thing and of knowing what people wanted to hear and feel. She had that connection."