Ringo statue beheaded after Liverpool slur

Vandals have beheaded a statue of Ringo Starr following his comments on BBC1's Friday Night With Jonathan Ross.

The £8,000 topiary tribute to The Beatles was unveiled at Liverpool's South Parkway station last month to celebrate its status as European City of Culture.

The life-size artwork, known as the "Fab Foliage" and "Thicket to Ride", took Italian sculptor Franco Covill 18 months to create.

But while bandmates John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison were left alone, drummer Starr was vandalised after offending residents with his dismissive remarks in January.

The 67-year-old had followed his performance at the city's Capital of Culture launch by telling Ross that he had no plans to return to live in the North-West.

He admitted that he had told the audience during the gig that he was "close" to returning just to please them because they were so excited. He also said there was nothing he missed about the city.