'Love locks' could be sold for scrap metal

Bristol City Council is removing thousands of padlocks from Pero's Bridge over concerns they are damaging the crossing

Padlocks left by couples on a city centre bridge as a romantic gesture that are being removed could be sold for scrap metal.

Bristol City Council is in the process of removing thousands of so-called love locks from Pero's Bridge - which links Queen Square and Millennium Square - over fears that they weigh too much and are damaging the crossing.

The authority had planned to melt the locks down to create a sculpture, but no money was set aside. To fund the work, councillors considered selling the locks for scrap metal instead, despite concerns that the move could upset some people.

"There's a lot of emotion tied to those padlocks," said Councillor Ani Stafford-Townsend.

A batch of the locks, which collectively weigh up to three tonnes, were cleared from the bridge about a decade ago but thousands more have since been added by the public.

In September, the council implemented weight and movement restrictions on the bridge.

The structure, which was built in 1999, was named after Pero Jones who was enslaved in Bristol in the 18th Century.

A council meeting was held on 23 September to discuss the padlocks, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Patsy Mellor, director of management of place, said she was "worried" about padlocks being added to the bridge again once it was cleared.

She said: "The original idea was to melt them down and create a sculpture out of that, to memorialise the locks that were there in the first instance.

"But there's no budget set aside. So I think melting them down and saving the cash from that, and using that to pay for the sculpture might be the way forward."

She added that there were "loads of ideas" to commemorate the locks, but no funding was available.

Councillor Patrick McAllister said the locks could provide an "infinite supply" of scrap metal that could be sold off to fund a sculpture, but he did not advocate the idea.

No final decision has been made on the future of the padlocks yet.