Hartlepool council leader denies monkey statue explanatory sign

Hartlepool Council said it had not received any complaints about the statue

Hartlepool Council's leader has denied claims from his own authority that a monkey statue was to be given a sign explaining its background.

The statue represents a monkey that was said to have been mistaken for a French spy and hanged in the early 1800s.

A council spokesman had said they would install an "explanatory sign" on the statue at the Hartlepool Marina gates "for the benefit of visitors".

But council leader Shane Moore said "no action needs to be nor will be taken".

It has long been claimed a monkey was washed ashore having been the sole survivor of a French ship wrecked off the North East coast.

According to the story, people in the town convicted the animal of being a spy because they had never seen a Frenchman or a monkey.

Residents became known as "monkey hangers" with the Hartlepool United football team even calling its mascot H'angus the Monkey.

The statue is thought to have been in place since the 1990s.

Stuart Drummond was elected Hartlepool mayor in 2002 after standing as H'angus the Monkey

The council told the BBC it was "working on an interpretation of the Hartlepool monkey legend with the intention of installing an explanatory sign on the monkey statue at the Hartlepool Marina lock gates for the benefit of visitors".

"We have not received any complaints about the statue, and in fact it helps raise around £2,000 a year for charity thanks to the coins deposited within it by visitors," it added.

"In putting up an explanatory sign, we intend to liaise closely with the marina's current owners, Hartlepool Marina Ltd."

But Mr Moore, who represents the Hartlepool Independent Union party, later wrote: "On a day when we should be celebrating Hartlepool being awarded the full £25m in Towns Deal money we are instead talking about how a statue of a monkey needs a sign to prove it isn't racist.

"In the morning I'll be reminding council officers that there was a decision taken last year by elected members that said no action needs to be nor will be taken in relation to our existing town street names and statues.

"I'm all for us explaining our history, culture and folklore to people but ultimately not everything has to come down to race."