Kangaroo told to hop off

The Australian spirit is alive on the Isle of Wight

An Australian restaurateur has been told to remove a thatched kangaroo from the roof of his restaurant.

The 'roo - known as a finial - sits on the thatched roof of the Royal Essex Cottage restaurant and tearoom at Godshill on the Isle of Wight.

Owner Ric Hilton was told he had to apply for planning permission to keep the three-foot-high sculpture on the roof.

But the 52-year-old has been told the finial - the work of master thatcher Phil Campbell - will probably have to be taken down.

Mr Hilton came to Britain three years ago

Mr Hilton says once the thatching was done to the roof of the restaurant, it needed a 'signature'.

"Being Aussies, we thought 'Let's put a thatched kangaroo up there' to say 'G'day, mate'," he said.

"The planners got complaints from some locals saying it didn't fit into the heritage of the place and they have told us we'll have to put in planning permission but it will be very unlikely it will be approved."

Some residents say they are hopping mad about the sculpture.

Pauline Williams, a local resident protesting against the plan, says: "I think it looks stupid up there.

"We are in a conservation area in a nice English country village, what are we doing with a kangaroo here?"

But Mr Hilton says the majority of visitors to his tearoom - which now sells kangaroo-shaped scones for cream teas - love the kangaroo and he has hundreds of signatures for his 'Save the 'roo' campaign.

"It's cementing the friendship between the Australians and the British," he said.

"It's a holiday island and people love something different."