A set of miners' lamps have been removed from a roundabout in Biddulph after falling into a state of disrepair.

The lamps were removed earlier today (Tuesday 15th February) before being loaded onto the back of a truck and taken away.

They were located at the roundabout near the fire station in Biddulph, which connects St John's Road with Church Road and Princess Street.

Biddulph Nub News reported previously how Staffordshire Moorlands District Council had been urged to restore the lamps to their former glory after they had been allowed to become "a heap of rotting mess".

After looking into the issue, the district council concluded that the lamps can't be repaired in situ and that they would need to be removed for repair as they are encased in concrete.

The lamps are now due to be taken to the authority's Fowlchurch depot in Leek to be assessed.

However, there is no guarantee that the lamps can be restored to their previous state and be replaced at the roundabout, with district council leader Cllr Sybil Ralphs previously saying: "I cannot assure you that they will be taken away in their whole, and I cannot assure you that they will be brought back in a fit state – none of that is possible until they've actually been removed from the roundabout."

Biddulph town and district Cllr Jill Salt has previously campaigned for the lamps to be restored and returned to the roundabout.

Speaking at a meeting in which the future of the lamps were discussed back in October, she commented: "What is most disturbing is: why have they been allowed to get to that state in the first place? Why wasn't there a maintenance plan for them? Why haven't they been tended to? Why have they just been ignored and allowed to rot?"

"I hope that they are fully restored, if they're lost it'll be a tragedy. If they can't be restored, they need to be replaced in kind – maybe not with the same design, but there needs to be some form of public art, that the public are happy with, if the lamps can't be restored."