Wedgwood sculpture to be fully restored after being destroyed by contractors in 'significant error'

Stoke-on-Trent Council has announced it is working to fully restore a Wedgwood sculpture which was destroyed following a "significant operational error" by contractors.

The red brick sculpture - called 'Capo', celebrating the city's industrial heritage and the work of potter Josiah Wedgwood - was destroyed by council contractors during roadworks to widen Festival Way in February.

It led to Dan Jellyman resigning as both deputy council leader and cabinet member for regeneration, infrastructure and heritage, saying it was his error in not challenging "officers' poor advice" shortly before Christmas that resulted in 'Capo' being demolished.

He said he'd been told the sculpture could not survive being relocated and that if the roadworks were to continue, then the statue would have to be removed.

An internal council investigation into what went wrong has found that council officers were responsible for the instructions to contractors that led to the statue being removed without due care.

The investigation found that contractor Galliford Try has no culpability, and that council officers acted without proper authorisation and did not follow agreed council processes.

The report contains five recommendations that have been fully accepted by the city director, who will now consider any disciplinary consequences for individual officers flowing from the report.

City director Jon Rouse said: “This event was deeply regrettable and I want to offer apologies on behalf of the council. We will ensure that in future no decision can be made about any significant work of public art in the city without a proper consideration of its cultural and social value, and without adherence to a proper process, including public engagement.”

Councillor Brown said: “I care deeply about our city’s culture and heritage, as I know residents across our city do. I know that the council’s workforce does as well, which is why this investigation has been taken so seriously to put every safeguard in place to stop this from happening again.

“I’m really pleased to say that despite the severe damage, we have engaged specialists to help us assess and agree how best to reconstruct the statue. A careful audit and survey will now take place of all of the recovered parts of the statue – of which there is a considerable amount.

“I have made it very clear that I expect the statue to be fully restored and from these initial assessments it will enable a better understanding of the work involved to do this. When the restoration is completed, and we cannot put a timeframe on that at this stage, a consultation will take place for the most appropriate place to relocate the statue to, so that it can be seen and enjoyed by residents and visitors to the city for years to come.”