Blackpool Gaucho: Council to revalue assets after statue theft

Despite a police investigation, there have been no clues to the whereabouts of the sculpture

A council is to revalue its assets after a senior officer admitted there were "lessons to be learned" from the theft of an uninsured £15,000 statue.

Blackpool Council kept the theft of The Gaucho, which had been on show in the town's library, secret for two years.

When it came to light in December, the council said it feared publicity could have led to the bronze being damaged.

The council's director of resources said there would now be an annual inventory of all heritage assets.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said a meeting of the Audit Committees recommended an external valuer with appropriate qualifications is used to carry out the valuations, although a full inventory could take up to four years to complete.

Councillor Martin Mitchell told the committee that a valuation of heritage assets was vital as "recently, a valuable statue went missing".

Announcing the intention to make an inventory, director of resources Steve Thompson said he believed "there are lessons to be learned from that particular episode".

Despite a police investigation, there have been no clues to the whereabouts of the sculpture, which is known as Buffalo Bill due to its likeness to the Wild West showman.

The Gaucho, which depicts a cowboy and his bucking bronco, is believed to have been commissioned as part of the American display for the Great Exhibition in 1851 or for the World Fair in New York two years later.

Music hall entertainer Perci Honri donated it to Blackpool Council in memory of his father-in-law, Alderman William Broadhead, who was a director of the Tower Company.

After hearing of the theft, Percy's great-grandson Paul Honri, who lives in Gloucestershire, said councils "should be taking more care of what they have".

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