Mosaic made from unusual item brightening up north Liverpool suburb

An art installation made entirely from upcycled bottle tops has been unveiled by a group hoping to raise awareness of the impact that plastics have on wildlife.

A group of eco-conscious Maghull volunteers formed The Friends of Maghull and District (FOMD) in 2018 and now work with Maghull Town Council to improve the local community.

Now, with help from students at Maghull High School and Southport Art College, FOMD has installed a series of colourful wall mounted mosaics on Stafford Moreton Way which depict sea creatures and other wildlife, and are made entirely from plastic bottle tops.

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The bottle tops were sourced from Maghull's original eco art installation - a full-sized galvanised mesh steel rhinoceros sculpture, which was unveiled in 2021 by creator Chris Butler of Castle Fine Arts Foundry.

The mosaics were created by students to highlight the damage plastic can do to wildlife (Gary Dicker)

Councillor Frank Sharp told the ECHO: "We didn't intend to share the bottle tops, we were going to seal off the rhino to highlight the use of plastics and its impact on wildlife.

"But there's so much affection for the rhino from residents, you'll see people taking pictures or putting bottle tops in. We have to take half of the bottle tops out every three months but we struggled to find anywhere to recycle it. Eventually we found somewhere to upcycle it."

FOMD took thousands of bottle tops to Maghull High School and Southport Art College a little over a year ago, with students getting to work on the art.

They're housed in wall-mounted cabinets made by Kier Construction and MJB Joinery.

The FOMD's ecology work on Stafford Moreton Way started in 2019 following concerns about unkempt grassy areas in Maghull. As well as its art installations, the stretch also features an urban wildflower meadow.

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