A SCARECROW which led to multiple complaints was taken down voluntarily by the allotment holder, a council has revealed.

The scarecrow, which was originally created for a pride event before being used on an allotment, appeared to be of a black woman with a red evening dress, wide eyes and full red lips.

A woman, who chose to remain anonymous, reported the scarecrow to the Argus and said she was “almost lost for words” on how it was allowed to be put up at the allotment in Cornwall Avenue, Peacehaven.

She said: “Surely there must be rules against this sort of thing because it’s very offensive.

“You can see it just from walking past. You don’t even have to go into the allotment.

“The whole thing, it’s just awful and I wouldn’t want my family to see that. From my perspective, it normalises racist stereotypes.”

Tony Allen, town clerk at Peacehaven Town Council, said he believed the allotment holder had no racist intentions, with the scarecrow being taken down voluntarily by the person.

The Argus: The scarecrow was initially made for a pride event.The scarecrow was initially made for a pride event.

He said: “It was taken down a day after the article appeared online, something like that.

“There were mixed feelings as there always are with that type of thing, it came down voluntarily.

Mr Allen added that there is a leisure and amenities meeting which will discuss all rules and regulations to do with allotments.

He added: “There is a meeting tonight, we are not discussing the scarecrow specifically. The allotment policy is due for review.

“It includes everything, all the rules and regulations. What allotment holders can or can’t do, standard allotment policy.

“As with all councils, all our policies are regularly reviewed, it just happens this is the time where the allotments policy is up for review.”

Mr Allen said at the time that the council take people’s comments “seriously” and noted that many people also liked the scarecrow.

He said: “We’re very open, we’re a very inclusive council but we do take people’s comments seriously and as I said, there are a number of people expressed being offended by the scarecrow. There are also a number of people who said they like it.”

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