Last modified on Tue 2 Mar 2021 12.47 EST
Plans to use £100,000 of taxpayersâ money to underwrite an unveiling ceremony for a statue of Margaret Thatcher in her home town have been scrapped.
Councillors in Grantham, Lincolnshire were heavily criticised when they voted in December to set aside £100,000 to cover the costs of an event to reveal the statue, hoping donations would recoup the money.
The decision reignited divisions in the town over the statue and Thatcherâs legacy, and when the matter was put before a scrutiny committee on Monday it was decided delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic would provide enough time to raise the money through private donations.
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A statue of Thatcher in the Guildhall was vandalised in 2002 (Image: GETTY)
In 2002 a different statue of the former Prime Minister was decapitated by a protestor at London’s Guildhall.
The attacker used a cricket bat and metal bar to damage the monument.
Describing how he erected his model in Grantham, Mr Robla said: “There was no breaking and entering. It has a metal fence around it so I ve just gone in with my ladder and put it up in about five minutes.
“I had my high vis jacket on and the plan was to say I was measuring the plinth for the council if anyone said anything.