THE MAN who spent more than 2,000 hours carving Basingstoke's controversial "Wote Street Willy" says moving his sculpture would ruin it.

Sculptor Michael Pegler has appealed to people to ask their local councillors not to shift his work of art.

Deputy council leader Rob Donnelly has suggested that the nine-foot-high granite stone should be moved to Milestones' sculpture park because it looks "incongruous" with the new Festival Place shopping centre.

But Mr Pegler said the sculpture, erected eight years ago on the site of a Basingstoke church, was intended as a place of calm in the middle of the town centre.

"If it is moved away, I will feel incredibly distraught," he told The Gazette from his home in Shropshire.

He added: "I was asked to design a sculpture to go in the position where a church once stood. That is why it took the form it did - in order to bring some peace and tranquillity to the hustle and bustle of the commercial centre there.

"It reflects the history of the area. There is a woman praying, which refers to the church, a Roman amphora water jar, reflecting nearby Silchester, and the post and lintel format of the piece relates to the standing stones and monoliths of Stonehenge.

"It is a monumental piece of granite and it forces people to think about their own mortality and spirituality. It is a calming, tranquil, static image."

Asked about the nickname that attached itself to the sculpture almost as soon as it was unveiled, Mr Pegler said: "I can't see it as a phallic symbol - but I don't want to denigrate how people interpret it themselves.

"If some people find it offensive, I don't see that myself.

"I don't have any problem with the name 'Wote Street Willy' - I think it's nice. It shows that the people of the town have adopted the sculpture as their own.

"But I would find it very upsetting if it was moved. I feel they would be ruining a piece of sculpture if they did that."

The sculpture - real name the Church Stone - cost £25,000. When it was unveiled in November 1994, singer Sarah Brightman, who was appearing at the Haymarket theatre at the time, said: "It's beautiful. As soon as I saw it I wanted to touch it."