BASINGSTOKE'S controversial town centre sculpture - dubbed "Wote Street Willy" - may be on the move.

Deputy council leader Rob Donnelly believes the sculpture does not fit in with the image of the new town centre and wants the eight-foot-high stone shifted out to the Milestones museum's new outdoor sculpture park.

Cllr Donnelly told The Gazette: "When you see it against the new Wote Street tower that is part of the Festival Place shopping centre, 'Wote Street Willy' does look quite incongruous. It is also right next to one of the entrances to the new shopping centre.

"Nobody likes it. People are fed up with it. Even though it does tend to be slightly humorous, it doesn't fit in. And I'm not just saying that because it was put up by a Conservative administration.

"It has been here since about 1993 and right from the moment it was unveiled it was dubbed 'Wote Street Willy' - and the name has stuck.

"Many people in the town have been unhappy with the particular piece of work. It seems to me that having erected the tower at the entrance to Festival Place, 'Wote Street Willy' is now insufficient in comparison. I believe it will fit more naturally into the open air sculpture park.

"I would be very interested to know if people in Basingstoke and Deane support me in this proposed relocation."

The real name of the sculpture is, in fact, the Church Stone, as it stands on the site of an ancient Basingstoke church, and it is said to depict a mother crouching protectively over her child, praying.