{"id":671901,"date":"2026-07-03T15:52:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T15:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/671901\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T15:52:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T15:52:10","slug":"putting-cones-on-statues-is-in-good-humour-but-a-safety-hazard-says-councillor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/671901\/","title":{"rendered":"Putting cones on statues is in good humour but a safety hazard, says councillor"},"content":{"rendered":"

People in Edinburgh have been warned against putting traffic cones on top of statues, as it could pose a safety hazard.<\/p>\n

A senior city councillor admitted the trend, made famous by a statue in Glasgow, was in \u201cgood humour\u201d but said it should not spread elsewhere in Scotland.<\/p>\n

Cones have begun to appear upon statues around the city in recent days, in an echo of the trend in Glasgow.<\/p>\n

The equestrian statue of the same duke at Waterloo Place in Edinburgh sported three traffic cones on Friday morning: one on the Duke\u2019s head, another on the horse\u2019s head and another on the horse\u2019s raised foreleg.<\/p>\n

Other statues in Edinburgh, including those of Adam Smith and Sherlock Holmes, have also been \u201cconed\u201d.<\/p>\n

The traffic cone tradition is most associated with the statue of the Duke of Wellington outside the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow.<\/p>\n

Since the late 1980s, a cone has been atop the statue\u2019s head and it has been persistently replaced whenever it is removed.<\/p>\n

When Scotland fans travelled en masse to the US for the World Cup, the Tartan Army chose to decorate statues in Boston and Miami with cones in a similar way.<\/p>\n

Boston\u2019s mayor, Michelle Wu, took to the practice and even put a cone on a statue herself.<\/p>\n

However, the City of Edinburgh Council has said work has been ongoing to remove the cones which have popped up around the city.<\/p>\n

Edinburgh\u2019s transport and environment convener, Stephen Jenkinson, said: \u201cWhilst I\u2019m sure these have been put up in good humour and with the best intentions, we need to consider the safety of the public above all.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnsecured traffic cones could potentially cause injury or present a road safety hazard, which is why they\u2019ve been removed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we can all agree that there is only one statue in Scotland that has truly immortalised the cone, so I\u2019d urge people to not attempt any imitations.\u201d<\/p>\n

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