New town benches meant to be wonky says council

North Walsham shoppers saw the funny side after a spirit level confirmed a new bench was sloping

New benches installed in a town centre were intentionally made to be sloping, a council said.

Some shoppers in the Norfolk market town of North Walsham have joked about the "wonky" nature of the seating.

Richard Kershaw, responsible for sustainable growth at North Norfolk District Council, said: "Some people have longer legs than others, some have shorter legs than others.

"I don't think people are going to slip off them."

Councillor Richard Kershaw said it was unlikely anyone would slip off the unlevel benches

He described the benches as built to last, "beautiful", if "a bit quirky".

The councillor explained the reason why some of the seats were level and others not was due to the town's uneven ground.

The wonky benches were thought to be a good compromise.

"We did look at making them [all] level. But it would actually involve digging too far down," he said.

"And it would be too low at one end and too high at the other end.

"So you can sit where you like, so you have choice."

A builder's spirit level showed the bench to be slightly off-kilter

Mr Kershaw said rumours spread on social media about people sliding off the benches was an "urban myth".

"I think you're looking at about seven degrees maximum slope," he said.

"You have to have a very slippy bottom [to slide off]."

As well as new benches, the council was spending some £4m on regenerating the Norfolk market town.