Sculptor calls for Red Lion statue to be repaired

A sculptor is calling for a red lion statue's missing tail to be urgently repaired and reattached.

The wooden artefact sits above the former Red Lion Hotel on High Street in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, and was last renovated by Colin Mantripp in 2017.

It was created by his grandfather Frank Hudson in the 1950s. Its predecessor, which Winston Churchill gave a speech beside in 1945, was made by an unknown carver and is currently housed in the Wycombe Museum.

Mantripp said: "It's a big deal in High Wycombe, it's a focal point." The building's property management company has been approached for comment.

Mantripp, a wood carver and sculptor from the town, said he had restored the pine structure three times.

It was first done after the Great Storm of 1987, when it blew down.

"I spent many months restoring it and re-carved more than 45% of it, it had new feet, and the back of its head," he said.

He restored it again in 2002 following vandalism and it was renovated once more in 2017 after a campaign by the Bucks Free Press and The High Wycombe Society.

He said last year he noticed the tail had fallen off due to rotting.

"I feel some slight obligation to look after it. I'm willing to repair it and have quoted to do it. I want it restored and looked after, it needs to be done.

"If it was regularly painted it wouldn't need restoring, it needs to be regularly maintained."

Steven Broadbent, the Conservative leader of Buckinghamshire Council, wants to see it fixed.

"If you are the guardian of a piece of civic infrastructure, you should do everything you can to preserve it and look after it," he said.

The authority said it was not responsible for its upkeep as it did not own the building.

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