A DISGUSTED pensioner has spoken of her horror to see a statue of one of Worcester’s heroes used as a bike rack.

Carole Roberts, aged 69, said she has spotted cyclists using the Woodbine Willie statue in Cornmarket as a place to lock up bicycles on numerous occasions.

She said: “To me - to start with the bikes should not be on the statue because it is disrespectful. It is disgusting - I have spoken to quite a few of my friends my age and they all say it is disgusting too.

"I bet they are worth a lot of money and tourists who come to our beautiful city want to see them. If we don’t have our say it will carry on and get worse.”

Mrs Roberts, from Ronkswood, added: “I don’t know what's happened to the Vesta Tilley statue and I am worried it has been damaged and taken away.”

The Vesta Tilley statue was removed so that it could be repaired after a police car crashed into it in November last year.

The county council said it is set to be returned to the Cornmarket within the next month.

Jon Fraser, from Worcestershire County Council, said: “We can’t tell people to stop attaching their bikes to the statue plinths but we’d like to remind cyclists that these statues are respected and well-loved in Worcester. It would be better if people could leave their bikes in a more responsible place.”

Woodbine Willie, real name Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy, was an English Anglican priest and poet. In 1914 he became the vicar of St. Paul’s, Worcester. He was famous for handing out cigarettes to troops during the war.

Tilley was a renowned Worcester-born male impersonator from the music halls, who died in 1952.

The statues were installed in 2016 as part of a £500,000 revamp of the Cornmarket.