Villagers say bench has been left tacky

People in a Staffordshire village are split over the repainting of a bench and post, carved from a fallen horse chestnut tree, with some praising the bold colours and others branding them "tacky".

Robert Dalton, the original creator of the work in Madeley, Newcastle-under-Lyme, feels that onlookers might mistake this work for his own.Madeley parish councillor David Whitmore who admitted to painting the post and bench, but he declined to comment further.

A spokesperson for Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, which owns the bench, said: "We regard this as the personal project of some Madeley parish councillors, paid for by the parish council.”