My advice to Colchester's borough councillors and Essex's county councillors is to abandon plans for a nonsensical statue of an elephant on the Albert Roundabout in Colchester.

I have yet to a meet a single person who thinks this is a proper and beneficial use of £200,000 of public money.

A misuse of taxpayers' money at any time but insultingly even worse when the borough council recently closed the town’s only day centre for old people stating it could not afford to fund it and with the county ouncil planning to shut libraries.

It is a question of priorities. A dismembered metal statue on a roundabout is not a priority.

For those trying to make party political points, let me gently observe the “elephant” forms the second phase of so-called “improvements” for those walking from Colchester North station to the town centre...a scheme which has been taken forward jointly by Colchester Council, led by Liberal Democrats and Labour, and Essex County Council, run by the Conservatives.

The first phase is already there. A costly £200,000 has already been spent, of which rusty-looking elephants can be seen outside the railway station and on the corner of High Street and North Hill – with the visual clutter of yellow banners hanging from lamp columns disfiguring the street scene, notably on North Hill which is in a conservation area with many historic buildings.

Who is driving this project? Which councillors, borough and county, voted to spend £400,000?

In the interests of transparency and democratic accountability, perhaps someone in authority will enlighten council tax-payers.

Sir Bob Russell

Catchpool Road, Colchester