IT STANDS almost 40 feet high and can be seen protruding into the Southampton skyline.

Pointing towards the heavens and surrounded by an 800-strong shoal of swirling stainless steel fish the city's latest piece of public art has received a mixed welcome.

Labelled "a Christmas tree gone wrong", and "a lump of scrap metal" the Northam Shoal, was unveiled in Old Northam Road, near St Mary's Stadium.

Illuminated by fibre-optic cables at night, the sculpture incorporates more than 800 stainless steel fish and is one of the final pieces in the £26m government-funded regeneration jigsaw of Northam, St Mary's and Bevois Valley.

Resident Wally Ainsworth, 67, from Shannon House, said: "What is it? It looks like a Christmas tree gone wrong."

But landlady Helen Spiller, who runs the King Alfred Pub opposite, said: "I think it will be a terrific focal point for the regeneration area."

Costing £65,000, the sculpture is cheaper than the controversial £80,000 The Shear erected last year in Lodge Road, Bevois Valley, which many residents have likened to a giant cheese grater.

Shopkeeper Graham Worley, 34, who runs the Desk Centre in old Northam Road, said: "It's not really money well spent and probably doesn't make the slightest bit of difference to the area."

Designed by London-based metalwork artist Tom Grimsey, 42, and built by MJF Precision Welding, based in Bevois Valley, Southampton, Northam Shoal is meant to depict a group of individuals working together to form a community.

Mr Grimsey, explained the sculpture is a 'super organism' which is a large coherent body made up of a multitude of interdependent individuals like a teaming shoal of fish or a seething football crowd. He said: "The subject has significance for Southampton on two fronts, firstly, with the internationally important oceanographic study centre and the St Mary's area when tides of football supporters descend on the new stadium."

The design was chosen by a panel, which included St Mary's resident Bernie O'Sullivan who sits on the Southampton Regeneration Partnership board.

He said: "The sculpture will be shining high above Old Northam Road as a landmark for the area."

City councillor Paul Jenks, the chairman of the regeneration partnership who performed the unveiling ceremony said: "Regen-eration is not just about putting up new buildings, it's all about improving the local environment."