A SCULPTURE planned as the new focal point for a town centre didn't go down too well with residents, who said the money should be spent on toilets instead.

A £2,400 giant metal hoop by Oxfordshire artist Peter Fink was due to be erected in the centre of Didcot in March 1983 to crown the redevelopment of the area's shops.

But retired shop assistant Rose White had other ideas, she felt the money would be better spent on new public lavatories because the existing ones were 'disgusting'.

She collected 200 signatures for a petition calling on South Oxfordshire District Council to make the change.

An existing toilet block in Broadway had no locks on the doors and chipped and damaged urinals.

Not everyone agreed with Mrs White however.

The Mail stopped a Mr John Keen who was annoyed it was being presented as a choice between toilets or the sculpture.

"They are nothing to do with each other", he told our reporter.

In the end, the artwork went ahead as planned and still stands to this day.