A POPULAR piece of public art in Burnley is set to be demolished because councillors cannot afford spending £100,000 of tax payers' cash on preserving the sculpture.

Burnley Council wanted to move the frieze - a large horizontal sculpture - fixed to the side of the closed Thompson Centre to a new home when the building is demolished this year.

Millionaire philanthropist William Thompson gave the money for the centre, which opened in 1974 before it was replaced by the new £28million St Peter's Health and Leisure Centre in February.

The council investigated preserving William Thompson's gift by keeping the sculpture.

But councillors are set refuse the plan after council chiefs said it would cost between £80,000 and £100,000.

Members are also set to shun a £20,000 scheme which would see the artwork - a series of large concrete panels depicting different sports - preserved on the site of the former leisure centre.

As the man in charge of Burnley's purse strings said the authority could not spend the money, the town's civic society today said it intended for William Thompson's legacy to live on by getting the council to name a facility in the new centre after the philanthropist.

Executive member for resources Coun Peter Doyle said: "The cost of moving the frieze to a new home is simply too high for the council and ultimately council taxpayers to meet.

"We have considered the alternative of leaving that section of the wall where it is but we can't justify spending up to £20,000 given the uncertainty about the long-term future of the site."

Andrew Rolfe, borough architectural consultancy manager, said a huge new structure would have to be found to support the sculpture and if it was retained it would be best to position it out of people's reach so it could not be climbed on or vandalised.

If it was left on its present site work would be needed to make it weather-proof and improve the appearance of the back wall.

The Thompson Centre will be bulldozed this autumn and the site will become a car park while a decision is made on its long-term future.

Coun Roger Frost, executive member for leisure and culture and chairman of Burnley Civic Society, said he would like the frieze to be retained on the Thompson Centre site but the group agreed with the council that £100,000 could be better spent elsewhere.

He would lobby fellow councillors to agree to name the swimming pool in the new St Peter's Centre after William Thompson when it was finished in the autumn.

He said: "It has been a feature of the town for over 30 years and has become popular with the people. I think preserving it on the site would be a good idea.

"It is my intention that the Thompson name will be associated with the St Peter's Centre.

"We are going to discuss it in the autumn. It is something the civic society want and something the people of Burnley want."

The council's executive meets at the town hall tomorrow at 6pm.