CONTROVERSIAL plans for a showpiece Viking Boat structure on the A41 in Eastham look set to be sunk.

Wirral Council had proposed a 30-metre tall "Magic Boat" sculpture would be built on the Eastham roundabout at its junction with the M53, acting as a gateway' feature for people entering the borough.

But the government's Highways Agency is objecting to the scheme on public safety grounds and wants the local authority not to give permission for its construction.

It says the structure would distract drivers, could attract pedestrians onto the busy stretch of road and runs the risk of being vandalised.

The move has stunned its supporters, among them Wirral's cabinet member for regeneration, Labour councillor Pat Hackett, who believed the government department had backed the scheme.

He said: "The Magic Boat has the full support of councillors, the local community and private sector businesses in Wirral and was approved for funding by the Northwest Development Agency.

"In developing this project, Wirral Council consulted extensively over a seven-month period with the residents and businesses of Wirral as well as neighbouring councils and the Highways Agency. At every stage, support for the project has generally been positive from all those involved.

"The council is very disappointed that at the eleventh hour' the Highways Agency has raised issues which were not mentioned during the Road Safety Audit undertaken by their own consultants, and new issues are also now being raised by them.

"The council has written constructively to the Highways Agency and responded positively to all the issues raised. However, in their response, the Highways Agency are repeating the same issues but without justifying their concerns.

"The council is writing again to the Highways Agency and will seek to meet with them in a further attempt to deliver this important regeneration project for Wirral."

Councillor Dave Mitchell, chairman of the Magic Boat' working group, said: "I am very disappointed about the Highways Agency's position given that we have worked with them constructively at each stage of this project.

"I am very concerned about the implications of their stance for public art generally and specifically for the Welcome to the North Initiative' being promoted through the Northern Way."

A Highways Agency spokesman said: "In rejecting Wirral MBC's proposal to erect a landmark structure - the Magic Boat - the Highways Agency, as land owner and network operator, has put public safety first.

"There is genuine concern, backed by strong legal advice, that the 30-metre sculpture would be a distraction for drivers, and that it might attract pedestrians across the busy roundabout.

"Acts of vandalism and the potential for children to attempt to climb on the structure have also featured in the agency's considerations, not least in the light of similar experiences with existing motorway infrastructure in the Northwest.

"There have been more than 400 recorded incidents of children gaining access to the motorway network in the region in the last 18 months, including access to overhead gantries and vandalism to structures."