Giving the green finger: Gardener who carved bush into rude gesture ordered to remove it



Richard Jackson has been accused of committing a public order offence



Police and council tell him to remove middle-finger sign, but he refuses



A gardener who carved a giant bush into a hand displaying a rude gesture has been ordered to remove it after being accused of committing a public order offence.

Richard Jackson has displayed the offending topiary, which shows the middle-finger sign, in his garden for the last eight years.

The 53-year-old has now been told by the council to alter it after a neighbour complained, but he has refused to comply.



'Public order offence': The council has ordered that this bush carved into the shape of an offensive hand gesture in Richard Jackson's garden be altered after a complaint from a neighbour

Mr Jackson, from T amworth, Staffordshire, said: 'I was contacted by the police and they said the council had been in touch because somebody had complained to them about it.

'Apparently, one person was offended by it and the police said it was a public order offence.

'I don't intend to change it though - I’m not a trouble maker and I don’t want to offend anyone, but at the same time it’s been here for eight years and I don’t see why I should have anybody telling me what to change in my garden.'

Mr Jackson says his neighbours are backing his pledge to the keep the shrubbery and have even started a ‘Save the Bush’ campaign.

Green-fingered: Mr Jackson, right, trims the bush which stands proudly in his front garden in Tamworth, Staffordshire. He refuses to comply with demands by the police and council to change it



'Rude': Mr Jackson has been ordered by the council to take down the bush as they claim that it is considered a public order offence

He added: 'If everybody else likes it and there’s only one complaint in eight years then I don’t think it is a public offence, as the majority aren't offended.

'I don’t think the policeman wanted to be here as much as I wanted him here, but he did ask me if I could make alterations to it - but I won’t.'

Mr Jackson claims the bush had become something of a minor celebrity figure in his village and people enjoyed looking at it. It sits next to three other intricately carved pieces of foliage.



He added: 'Everybody else in the village see it as just a bit of fun so they think somebody complaining is down to narrow-mindedness. There are trees either side of it so it’s not offensive at all.'

Warwickshire Police say they sent a police officer to investigate although they had not received a direct complaint.

They said if they did receive a formal complaint they would look into it - and deal with it proportionately.