A funfair in North Yorkshire has covered paintings of scantily-dressed women with bin bags after locals complained about the images.
The owners of Murphy's funfair insisted the images had been used before without complaint, The Sun reports, but residents in the town of Richmond were unimpressed and demanded they be covered up.
Among the pictures to cause offence was a mural of a woman licking a lollipop alongside the words: “Harder, better, faster, stronger.”
Another image, featured on the dodgems with the slogan “start your engines”, depicts a woman in hot pants while a third painting shows a brunette with a zipped-down top showing her bra and cleavage.
The images were described as “sexualised” by mum Claire Robson, who labelled them “offensive and discriminatory”.
She said in quotes reported by The Sun: “I feel very strongly that children are not exposed to these type of images. It’s great for Richmond that we have a visiting fair and good fun for families and young people.
“However I was shocked to see the sexualised images of women and surprised these meet council’s standards.”
County councillor Stuart Parsons said that he had encouraged local officials to get the fair to cover any offensive pictures.
“I contacted the town clerk who has had discussions with the fair,” he said in The Sun. “Murphy’s are talking to all the rides. Obviously it will take time and money for them to be dealt with properly."
Fairground staff initially used bin bags to cover the artwork last weekend and apologised for any offence caused.
However, locals were not united in condemning the images.
One woman said: “People need to get a grip. I do not see the issue with these images. I find it more degrading that people can’t look at them without turning it into a social debate.”
