A CONTROVERSIAL £25,000 statue unveiled in Blackburn Boulevard this week is just a waste of cash.

That's the opinion of passers-by who could hardly believe their ears when they heard the value of the tarpaulin-wrapped piece of street furniture.

Before it was revealed, the Citizen asked a number of shoppers what they thought this mysterious object to appear on the Boulevard was.

Most hadn't a clue. But pensioner Brian Beniston, 60, said: "It seems to be a lot of money for something that isn't necessary. The council should be spending more improving local services."

Shopper Vera Cosgrove, 76, agreed. She said: "Why didn't the council spend that money on building better bus shelters. Those flimsy plastic things aren't much use in bad weather and they're all in the wrong place.

"I like Blackburn and I think it has got a lot of good facilities. It seems a shame to spoil that with something silly."

Waitress Claire Nicholson, 22, said: "The money would have been better spent on making the boulevard shelters more attractive. What's the point of putting a statue there. There's never anyone around to admire it. It's like a ghost town."

Trevor and Sue Hannon, landlord and landlady of the Adelphi Beer Emporium, said: "What a waste of money. I can't imagine anyone admiring it because there's never anyone around to see it.

"The Boulevard has been like a ghost town since it was refurbished - £25,000 could have been mush better spent."

But a council spokesman said the money to pay for the statue had come from arts grants and could not be used for other improvements.

Councillor Andy Kay, development services committee chairman, said: "It adds a bit of life to the Boulevard. Some people think that art is not worth spending money but we wanted to finish off the Boulevard refurbishment with a prestige piece of modern sculpture."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.