Liverpool Super Lambanana row: Liver Wings artist calls for resolution

The artist said if his work had "been embraced and then neglected, I'd certainly be a bit miffed"

An artist has called on both sides of a row over the future of a much-loved Liverpool statue to find a solution as it "would be a shame to lose an icon".

Super Lambanana on Tithebarn Street is owned by its creator Taro Chiezo, who wants it to be refurbished.

However, Liverpool City Council wants to replace it with a replica.

Artist Paul Curtis, who created another celebrated work in the city, Liver Wings, said it was "odd for a city to host it, but not look after it".

Super Lambanana was created as a temporary structure in 1998 as part of a cross-regional art project backed by the Henry Moore Sculpture Trust and Tate Liverpool and its condition has deteriorated, with patchy paintwork and cracks being seen.

Its Japanese creator has previously said it was "very sad" to see what had happened to it, but he wanted to see it "fixed perfectly", as the replacement sculpture was not up to the necessary standards.

The Liver Wings work lets people, including the Duchess of Cornwall, to don Liver Bird wings

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the Liver Wings artist had tweeted the council, stating: "If I did a piece for a city in Japan and it had been embraced and then neglected, I'd certainly be a bit miffed."

He told the BBC he hoped it "gets restored [as] people have grown to love Super Lambanana and would hate to see it go".

"I don't know the ins and outs [but] it would be a shame to lose a Liverpool icon."

He added that a sticker had been placed on the sculpture, calling for people to help "save the Lamb Banana".

Responding to his tweet, the council said it had been negotiating with Taro Chiezo since March to replace it with a replica which "will last for generations to come".