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Four huge bronze statues brought to Reclamet scrap yard in Birchington to be demolished

In a big shed, in a huge scrap yard filled with hundreds of old cars, stands a remarkable 11ft bronze statue.

Surrounded by scrap, tools and with an old Arsenal picture hanging behind it on the wall, the extraordinary creation, set to be demolished, is an unlikely sight at the Reclamet yard in Birchington.

The 11ft tall bronze statue, which is due to be scrapped
The 11ft tall bronze statue, which is due to be scrapped

But the statue, standing at 3.4 metres tall and weighing half a tonne, is one of four collected by Reclamet from a fine art storage facility and brought in to be scrapped, on the owner and creator's say so.

Little is known about the artist, except she wants them gone.

A Reclamet boss says he received a call from someone on behalf of the creator in Enfield last week asking if they could collect and scrap the four statues, two of which were sitting Buddhas weighing 400 kilos each.

The other two are thought to be Tibetan statues.

Three of the four have now been demolished, with the last remaining one about to be broken up into pieces.

The bronze statue, the last remaining of the four
The bronze statue, the last remaining of the four

"When they said they had statues, we didn't expect this," said a spokesman for Reclamet. "We've never had anything like this before - we don't know why they are being scrapped.

"We don't know much except they were created by an artist who wants them demolished.

"Someone called up saying they need scrapping and we have to show proof this has been done.

"The sitting down Buddhas were 400 kilos, they're huge. The two others weigh half a tonne.

"You hit them with a big hammer and nothing happens, we've had to cut them up.

The statue in the shed at Reclamet
The statue in the shed at Reclamet

"We've just got one more left to do now."

The story behind the statues remains a mystery and the representative of the artist, understood to be elderly, asked that she not be named.

The bronze creations are not the only unusual finds at the large scrap yard in Woodchurch Road, which specialises in the treatment and recycling of end of life vehicles.

Most recently, aircraft including a Nimrod, a Phantom and two Wessex helicopters were brought onto the site from the former RAF fire training centre nearby.

This attracted the attention of a film crew from TV show Scrap Kings, who visited the yard to look at the unique items.

The partly demolished Nimrod at Reclamet in Birchington
The partly demolished Nimrod at Reclamet in Birchington

A large buoy from Ramsgate Harbour is also currently at the yard.

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