Residents of a village are up in arms after a controversial plant pot was reinstalled along a high street.

The planter in Rottingdean High Sreet was put in place to reduce air pollution but has proved divisive among residents due to the village’s already narrow roads, as well as claims that traffic caused by the object has snaked into other parts of the village.

It was temporarily removed earlier this month to allow scaffolding to be erected outside a shop, but returned yesterday - to the anger of many who live in the area.

Villagers took to social media to almost unanimously call for the planter’s permanent removal, arguing it has caused more harm than good and that traffic has improved since it was taken away.

Residents pointed out that the planter was “supposed to be a trial” and said that a monitoring period without the obstruction should now take place.

The Argus: The controversial planter was installed along High Street in Rottingdean in 2019The controversial planter was installed along High Street in Rottingdean in 2019 (Image: Newsquest)

One resident even went as far as to say: “We all need to get together and decide how we can remove it one night.”

A man who has worked in the high street for almost two decades said that he thinks traffic runs better without the planter and suggested it could be causing more air pollution, rather than reducing it as initially intended.

He said: “Cars very often sit with their engines running for several minutes as other vehicles don’t let them through, causing more frequent tailbacks way up the high street and beyond.”

Independent councillor Bridget Fishleigh, who represents the Rottingdean Coastal ward on Brighton and Hove City Council, said that at a meeting to discuss the planter, “I stated emphatically that I did not want the planter going back, but instead that we should monitor air pollution and traffic flows without it - sadly, I was overruled.”

Cllr Fishleigh also said she would be organising a village-wide meeting in the near future to discuss the matter further.

A council spokesman told The Argus earlier this month that the removal of the planter was only “on a temporary basis to allow for scaffolding to be put up to repair a nearby building”.

Brighton and Hove City Council have been contacted for further comment.