A naked gladiator statue can stay in Wigan for now as council bosses offer a reprieve
Council bosses no longer plan to take action over a controversial 20ft golden statue of a naked man.
We reported yesterday that Grant Adamson, owner of Bulldog Forge in Ince, had received a letter asking him to remove the figure from his car park.
He said: “I've received a letter threatening me with court action and a potential £2,500 fine if the Golden Man's not removed by New Year's Eve. They are saying it's an advertisement.”
But he has today been sent an email saying the statue does not need to be removed by the end of the year after all.
Instead, “further discussions” about it will take place in the New Year.
In a post on Facebook, Mr Adamson simply wrote: “People power. You lot are amazing, love you all.”
A Wigan Council spokesperson said: “Further to the letter received by the business owner earlier this week, we have since contacted him to explain that no action will be taken at present.
"We have also outlined our intention to engage in further discussions with the owner in the New Year.”
The statue was first used to promote the Russell Crowe Hollywood blockbuster Gladiator in 2000, before being sold and has made several local appearances since.
It was last on the Bulldog Forge car park in 2022, but was eventually removed, after Wigan Council bosses said it needed advertising consent – triggering a petition by locals to bring it back.
The statue was previously outside Titan Flooring Specialists on Landgate Industrial Estate in 2017 and in May this year it turned up at a campsite in the Mere Brow area of Preston.