'It's not even our joke!' Edinburgh residents demand crackdown on traffic cones placed on historic statues

It started as a one-off example of Glasgow’s irreverent sense of humour as a traffic cone was placed unceremoniously atop the city’s Duke of Wellington statue.

But it seems to have spawned a far wider tradition that has spread to other parts of the country.

But now, residents in Edinburgh’s Old Town have called for the ‘eye-sores’ to be removed from monuments in the city centre.

Cones have been appearing across the capital, with images of at least five adorning the Duke of Buccleuch monument in Parliament Square posted on social media this week.

Accompanied with the Benny Hill Show theme tune, the short clip shows a man reaching with a high pole to try and remove the cones from the 138-year-old statue, with a caption that reads: ‘Every morning’.

Daniel Todd, chairman of the Old Town Community Council, hit out saying they were ‘not even Edinburgh’s joke’ but claimed they had become a blight on the Royal Mile and other historic sites within the World Heritage Site.

The practice was given a new lease of life after images of them being placed on top of statues in Boston during Scotland’s brief World Cup campaign were beamed across the globe.

Shetland, Dundee and the North East have all had the odd cone appear on monuments since fans returned home.

But some residents in the Capital feel they have turned Scotland’s busiest tourist district into an ‘embarrassment’.

Mr Todd said: ‘This is Scotland’s capital, and the Old Town is its shop window. Residents want to take pride in the place they live, and the whole country should be able to take pride in its capital.’

Other statues in the city, including those of Adam Smith and Sherlock Holmes, have also been ‘coned’ in recent months.

Residents have now called on the council to remove ‘stray’ cones from the city centre and make it easier to report them.

James Garry, assistant director of the Edinburgh conservation charity Cockburn Association, said it was particularly noticeable in the Old Town because of the ‘prominence and sensitivity’ of the historic area.

He said: ‘We have raised concerns before about traffic cones being placed on statues and monuments.

‘There are obvious issues of respect, but also more practical concerns about personal safety and the risk of damage when people climb on structures that were never designed for that purpose.’

A spokesman for Edinburgh World Heritage added that ‘how we present our streets and civic spaces is how we present ourselves to the world’ and believed that cones should be ‘positioned with the character of the World Heritage Site in mind’.

Edinburgh City Council’s Transport and Environment Convener, Stephen Jenkinson, said: ‘Whilst I appreciate that these cones may be placed in good humour and with the best of intentions, the safety of the public must always come first.

‘Unsecured traffic cones can pose a risk to pedestrians and road users, potentially causing injury or creating a safety hazard. For this reason, we make sure to remove them as soon as possible.

‘I’d encourage people to refrain from placing cones on statues and monuments, helping us to protect them from potential damage - and which ultimately is a cost to Edinburgh council taxpayers - and ensure that everyone can enjoy the World Heritage Site safely.’