Stoke-on-Trent: Wedgwood statue blunder sees deputy council leader resign

The Josiah Wedgwood sculpture had been in Festival Park since 2009

The deputy leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council has resigned from his post over the demolition of a sculpture.

The red brick statue of local pottery magnate Josiah Wedgwood had stood in Festival Park since 2009.

When it was reduced to rubble earlier this month, the council said it would be speaking to contractors to understand what went wrong.

However, deputy council leader Daniel Jellyman said he had been involved in "poor decision making".

He said it was also "only right and proper" to also resign as cabinet member for regeneration, infrastructure and heritage.

The sculpture was demolished by workers widening Marina Way, to open up access to Festival Park, as part of infrastructure work around the Etruria Valley Link Road.

"I was given the advice that the statue could not survive being relocated and if we wished for the infrastructure scheme to progress... the statue would have to be removed," Mr Jellyman wrote in his resignation letter.

"It is now clear that the statue could have been relocated and preserved."

Mr Jellyman said the sculpture could have been relocated and preserved

Mr Jellyman told BBC Radio Stoke he had not been in possession of all the facts when he was consulted over the plans.

He said he believed the statue being demolished was the fault of council officers who had told him the only way for the link road to progress, was if the statue was removed.

"If they'd done the due diligence and they'd looked at it correctly, then a better decision would have been made.

"My weakness in this and the reason I've gone is, I should have challenged back.

"I've been working since 2015 on preserving the city's heritage - to think that I've contributed to something being demolished, based on incorrect information, it doesn't sit well with me."

Mr Jellyman said he was a proud "Stokie"

Paying tribute, Abi Brown, leader of the Conservative-run council, said Mr Jellyman left behind a "strong legacy of both protecting our heritage whilst also progressing perhaps one of the most ambitious periods of regeneration our city has ever seen".

Mr Jellyman said he was a proud "Stokie" and would continue as a backbench councillor.

The local authority has opened an investigation into the sculpture's demolition.

Speaking earlier this month, Dr Tristram Hunt, director of the Victoria and Albert Museum and a former Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent, said the statue deserved to be rebuilt.

Mr Jellyman told BBC Radio Stoke the bricks recovered from it were now at a council site, although he was not aware of their condition.