HUDDERSFIELD'S St George's Square narrowly missed out on a "large dog mess" as its focal point.

That's the view of London Mayor Ken Livingstone, who criticised a contender to provide a sculpture of Harold Wilson for the square.

The town's much-loved statue of the former Labour Prime Minister was chosen from a shortlist of four sculptors and unveiled by Tony Blair in 1999.

The figure of Huddersfield-born Harold Wilson - later Lord Wilson - is a source of pride for local people.

But one of the rejected designs was attacked in withering remarks by outspoken Mr Livingstone yesterday.

He said the submission by Glynn Williams looked like "a large dog mess".

After telling planning inspectors that a statue of South African hero Nelson Mandela should take centre stage in Trafalgar Square, London, Mr Livingstone turned his attention to Prof Williams, one of Britain's leading sculptors .

Prof Williams, professor of sculpture at the Royal College of Art, missed out on the prize of having his sculpture of Harold Wilson outside Huddersfield railway station to Ian Walters, who has also created the Mandela statue.

Mr Livingstone, holding photos of the Walters and Williams sculptures of Harold Wilson outside a three-day planning inquiry in London, said: "The only sense that Prof Williams's looks like Harold Wilson is if Harold Wilson has been dead for several days and has started to decompose and is emerging out of a large pile of dog mess.

"It is all very well for people with fine arts degrees.

"But ordinary people like myself want a statue to look like the person.

"We do not want to have to find someone with an art degree to explain what we are looking at."

Earlier, Prof Williams had described the £400,000 Mandela statue by Mr Walters as "run-of-the-mill, mediocre modelling" that did not measure up as a good work of art.

He was appearing as a witness for Westminster Council, which is opposing the placing of the Mandela statue in front of the National Gallery.

The council refused permission, saying it would "clutter" the space and would harm protected views of the National Gallery and St Martin- in-the-Fields church.

Its counsel, Russell Harris QC, said a better place would be on the square's east side, outside South Africa House.

The design was a "poor legacy to such a great man", added Mr Harris.

The council is backed by English Heritage and the National Gallery.

Harold Wilson's widow, Mary, is among a large group of figures who are backing the statue.

The opposing sides have spent about £100,000 on the planning appeal.

Colin Barrow, Westminster Council's deputy leader, said the appeal was a monumental waste of public money, "when you could just sit around a table and agree it".