The Harry Kane statue saga (Picture: Getty/Big Issue/Waltham Forest Council/Sculpture Machine Ltd)
Hidden out of sight in storage somewhere in London lies a £7,200 statue of Harry Kane, which might never be installed after fears it could cause a train crash.
It was specially commissioned to honour the football star in Chingford, east London, where the England team captain grew up.
But now bizarre red tape means the statue might never see the light of day.
Transport for London decided the statue is a safety risk as it could be ‘distracting’ to drivers and cause a tragedy.
After commissioning by Waltham Forest Council, a sculptor began work to create a life-size statue of Kane.
Councillors spent £7,200, and in 2019, the statue was finished.
Locals said it was ‘a joke’ that the statue languishes in storage (Picture: Big Issue/Waltham Forest Council/Sculpture Machine Ltd)
Local Conservative councillors wanted to place erect it on Chingford’s Weaver Line Overground station.
But TfL’s risk assessment said it could be targeted by rival football fans, the Guardian reported.
The main distraction issue ‘was not concerned with the statue, but the actions of persons around it,’ TfL’s senior Freedom of Information officer Gemma Jacob said.
The controversial statue (Picture: Big Issue/Waltham Forest Council/Sculpture Machine Ltd)
The source of distraction could be people ‘posing for photographs on/next to it’ and ‘hanging items on it such as scarfs,’ she added.
Initial concerns related to the location of the statue near the buffer stops which could ’cause a distraction to train drivers as they approach the terminal (dead-end) platforms at Chingford,’ she said.
TfL suggested the statue could be placed near the station, but no home has been agreed, the Guardian reported.
The statue was only discovered in February.
Locals speculated what it might look like, and The Big Issue eventually revealed pictures showing Kane sitting on a bench with a football dressed in the England kit.
One Chingford resident said keeping the expensive statue hidden was ‘ridiclous.’
First pictures revealed what the Harry Kane statue looks like (Picture: Big Issue/Waltham Forest Council/Sculpture Machine Ltd)
Trevor Calver told the BBC: ‘It’s ridiculous, £7,200 up the swanny. It’s a joke – but it’s not funny.’
Even Harry Kane’s team has weighed in on the statue saga.
His spokesperson told the broadcaster in February they were ‘really excited’ about it and hoped it could be revealed soon.
The spokesperson said: ‘Especially with Harry being England and Tottenham’s all time top goal scorer. It is what he deserves.
‘The location of the statue is really important to us and like Emma said we are having some issues at the moment, but when we get it right, we will be happy to go.
Emma Best, one of the councillors involved in the commissioning, told the BBCshe had spent ‘hours and hours’ trying to find a home for it.
Kane went to school in Chingford at Larkswood Primary Academy.
He then followed in the footsteps of David Beckham at Chingford Foundation School, where the legend attended in the 1980s.
Now the 30-year-old Bayern Munich striker is getting ready for the Euro 2024 kick-off in Germany next week under the management of Gareth Southgate.
Waltham Forest Council said previously the statue was paid from a pot of about £6,600 from a community ward funding meant for ‘local initiatives, projects and improvements’ shared between the 22 wards in the borough, according to the Guardian.
The council was contacted for a comment.
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