Statue of BLM protester on the Edward Colston plinth is removed

The statue of a BLM protester placed on the Edward Colston plinth has been removed by the council - less than 24 hours after it went up.

Council workers were spotted pulling down the monument to Jen Reid in the centre of Bristol at around 5:20am this morning (July 16).

A team dressed in hi-vis clothing were seen securing the sculpture with ropes before lifting it into a skip lorry.

The statue - titled A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020' - was then driven to a museum.

The monument was put up by a group led by artist Mark Quinn during a guerilla operation in the early hours of yesterday (July 15).

The lifesize black resin and steel design depicts Ms Reid, who was pictured on the empty plinth after the Colston statue was toppled during Black Lives Matter protests.

It was installed without permission from Bristol City Council.

The mayor of the city, Marvin Rees, previously said on Twitter: "I understand people want expression, but the statue has been put up without permission.

"Anything put on the plinth outside of the process we've put in place will have to be removed.

"The people of Bristol will decide its future."

A council spokeswoman confirmed the authority was behind the removal.

She said: "This morning we removed the sculpture. It will be held at our museum for the artist to collect or donate to our collection."