Hindu god on guard in Kemp Town

7:50pm Wednesday 15th October 2008

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Look once and you might miss them.

Tucked away in an alcove above a disused railway tunnel these figurines keep watch over the Freshfield Industrial Estate in Kemp Town, Brighton.

They were spotted by eagle-eyed Philip Lyddon, a 60-year-old potter from Queen’s Park, Brighton, who discovered them after he visited the industrial estate.

He said: “I was over on the industrial estate with my daughter Kate, looking for packing materials.

“I thought we’d have a look at the old tunnel and I was telling her about how it used to be a railway and that the tunnel was closed off.

“I took some photos with my camera and when I got them on my computer I saw two little Indian figures.”

The figures, about 9in tall, are in a small alcove about 12ft up in the cliff face next to the entrance to the old Kemp Town Railway tunnel.

Mike Mecrow, 22, a worker at the Plumb Center, said: “I’ve been working on the industrial estate for about a year and I’ve never noticed them. I don’t know what they could be.”

The Argus has managed to solve the mystery. The figure of the Hindu god Krishna and his love Radha were placed in the gap in the cliff face by Joseph Philogene, the manager of nearby Storage King, about five years ago.

Mr Philogene, 45, said: “One of our customers gave us the model of Krishna, and there was a little indentation in the cliff face and I thought it was a good little place to put it.

“Although I’m a Buddhist, I thought it would look good in that little waste of space. He’s keeping watch over our business.

“We’ve had a few people come in over the years and ask about it. The weather’s worn it down and it now looks like it’s carved into the chalk. He’s a bit of good luck in our yard.”