Number's up for phone box sculpture.
It was designed as a "people piece", a witty sculpture encapsulating an object which was part of the "blood of Britain".
A local council paid dearly for the work of art - the 12 tumbling K6 phoneboxes entitled Out of Order. But now, 11 years on, the sculpture has been neglected, used as a gigantic litter bin, a canvas for graffiti and even an exercise track for mountain bikers.
So the people have revolted. On Wednesday the neighbourhood committee of Kingston upon Thames borough council in Surrey will meet to consider a petition calling for it to be removed or resited.
It is one of the earliest works of David Mach, a Royal Academician and a leading figure in contemporary "site specific sculpture". He is celebrated for such pieces as the Flying Scotsman in Northumberland and the enormous photomontage in the Millennium Dome's Self- Portrait Zone.
Residents, however, have described Out of Order as an eyesore. Pat Arnold, who worked for BT when the work was constructed, thought the company had piled them up to cart off to the dump. "Then I heard that they were supposed to be a work of art. I couldn't believe my eyes. It's ridiculous to call a heap of old boxes an artwork," she said yesterday.
David Mach defended his work, which he complains has been allowed to "go to the dogs". It has been painted the wrong shade of red and boarded up. "It's a real people piece," he said. "People that don't know that the boxes are a work of art are a bit of a pudding."
The sculpture has generated strong feelings since it was commissioned. The then mayor, Michael Mannall, unveiling the project in December 1989, admitted that he had got a council official to write his speech because his own words would have been "unprintable".
The council estimates it will cost at least £8,000 to renovate the piece, and £25,000 to mend and move it. The campaign to get it moved is being led by traders in London Road, who say it blocks off their street so that visitors cannot see the shops behind it.
David Mach is calling on BT to wire up the end box so people can use it. "The boxes were an object that the British people embraced. It is a good design by a great architect. It's part of the blood, body and structure of Britain." The sculpture, which he describes as "anti-minimalist", would not look out of place in Hull, Edinburgh or in Trafalgar Square, he said. "Let's have 20 of them all over the country."