It could be worse – you could live in Middleton.

Some residents of the Greater Manchester town have slammed a public water feature there called Moonraker.

And with the town now drawing up a short-list of four possible designs for a new £100,000 art feature, calls have gone out for a statue of a famous son, daughter or resident of Middleton – as here in St Annes with Les.

The local newspaper, The Middleton Guardian, sought opinions from residents on their new art feature.

One, Caroline Shepley, of Plant Hill Road, Blackley, was reported as saying that Middleton should follow the example of Lytham St Annes and Morecambe, who have commemorated their local heroes with statues of Les Dawson and Eric Morecambe.

She said: "A statue of Bernard Manning would be a talking point. Perhaps he wasn't politically correct but he was well loved locally

"He did so much for charity. People would come to be photographed next to him, like they do in Morecambe."

As regards Moonraker, another passer-by, Alistair Derbyshire of Windermere Road, Langley, was reported as saying: "It looks like a piece of scrap metal. I'm told it is also supposed to project images, but I've never seen that."

The short-listed artists for the new art feature have been told to prepare finished designs which will then go to public consultation, including a three-day exhibition in Middleton at the end of the month.

A former Middleton man, who did not wish to be named, now living in St Annes, said of the Moonraker feature: "This actually means nothing to me, but a statue of Les Dawson, yes."

However, the 92-year-old former joiner who came to the Fylde in 1965, said he would prefer a memorial to commemorate heroes of the town who had lost their lives in the war, for example.