A PENSIONER has said she is willing to come to the aid of "Wote Street Willy" - the controversial sculpture the council is thinking of moving because it doesn't fit in with the new Festival Place shopping centre.

Phyllis Ferguson, 71, says she likes it - and would not even mind if it was put in her garden.

"They should leave it where it is," Mrs Ferguson, of Chequers Road, Eastrop, Basingstoke, told The Gazette. "I quite like it. It is certainly a lot better than the lighthouse they have built at the end of Wote Street. I hate that - it's an abomination.

"It has got lavatory glass in it and looks more like a toilet. It's got a red and white stripe and at night there is a sparkly thing on top that makes it look more like Disneyland. Give me 'Wote Street Willy' any time.

"I was talking to council leader Brian Gurden the other day and he said the sculpture didn't fit in with the new town centre and they were considering moving it out to Milestones museum's sculpture park. But the sculpture was there before the new town centre. And in any case, the sculptures at the Mile-stones park are to sit on.

"I liked it even before I knew it was there to commemorate the site of a historic church. But if it commemorates something, that is even more reason to leave it where it is.

"If no-one had nicknamed it 'Willy' I would not have noticed that aspect of it. It does look a bit like a phallic symbol - but I would not hold that against it.

"I don't see it as an oasis of calm in the hustle and bustle of the town centre as the sculptor Michael Pegler says, but I like it. It is very pleasant to look at."

Mrs Ferguson added: "I would not mind it in my front garden.

"If they dig it up and can't think of anywhere to put it they can stand it in my garden. We have a high wall so it wouldn't upset anyone."