A £270,000 SCULPTURE in Newcastle upon Tyne by Ray Smith is to be removed six months after it was completed because it has attracted public ridicule.
A national newspaper reported last week that visitors had complained about the structure, which consists of a row of 52 linked concrete figures at the entrance to a shopping centre, because its central fountains soaked anyone passing too close.
Entitled 'The Lego Men' by visitors, the sculpture was funded by the city council and local traders as part of a £3-million improvement scheme.
Mr Smith, who told the newspaper he had received positive comments about his sculpture, has urged people to give it 'a chance' but one shopper called it 'the most horrible thing ever built in Newcastle'.
West Devon Borough Council's economic development officer Tim Beavon has defended the work of Mr Smith, who was commissioned by the authority to come up with enhancement concepts for Okehampton.
'Ray Smith has also done a lot of work in Teignmouth which is much closer to home for us and it has met with a lot of local approval,' he said. 'We are using Ray for getting a good quality of design in street enhancement for Okehampton and all his work is subject to public consultation anyway.'