Jake Mangle-Wurzel remains defiant that his folly will remain even though Kirklees Council wants to dismantle it.
Huddersfield’s best-known eccentric is so attached to the structure which he built 14 years ago at the town’s Civic Centre that he is defying the council who have told him it’s an eyesore and it has to go and is often chained to it.
The 80-year-old says he has been sleeping on a makeshift bed under some concrete steps next to the monument ever since.
And he says he is going to paint Jake’s Boudoir on a nearby door in the hope of attracting women.
He said: “I have spoken to two Kirklees councillors, Gemma Wilson and Cahal Burke, and they were very nice.
“I’m tied to it for as long as it takes though I hear thunderstorms are brewing. I also have a court appearance next month regarding an alleged offence involving my dog so I am hoping two or three reliable people will be able to stand in for me while I’m in court.”
Sheryl Gentles, a 35-year-old, mother-of-three from Huddersfield, said: “I fully support Jake. He put blood, sweat and tears into making this folly 14 years ago and I don’t think it deserves to be dismantled as an eyesore. He has done a lot of work painting it and it looks very smart.”
Clr Wilson, who recently defected from the Tories to the Lib Dems, added: “Jake spotted me on my way into the Civic Centre office this morning and called me over, keen to show me what he called his repair work on the folly. I had to laugh when he referred to me as ‘controversial’.
“A member of council staff said a lot more people than usual had been passing by to see how Jake is doing and he appears to be receiving lots of food/drink from people as he was surrounded by flasks.”
No date for its removal has yet been made.
