Talk of the Town: Gormley's squatter does the business

HE is most famous for his imposing Angel of the North overlooking Gateshead, but it seems sculptor Antony Gormley's latest creation has attracted an altogether less edifying nickname among the local populace.

Built at an East Lothian fabricators, his 26-metre tall masterpiece poised on a strip of land in central Netherlands is officially called Exposure but has been affectionately dubbed the 'crouching man' due to its slightly hunched appearance.

However some residents of Lelystad, where the sculpture has been installed, have rechristened it something far less flattering.

Locals now refer to the giant artwork as The Pooping Man, or words to that effect.

No second date after Mandy slags off Al's diary

THEY may have been key players in the creation of New Labour, but there seems to be no love lost between Peter Mandelson and Alistair Campbell, who have both now published their versions of Labour's years in power.

Appearing at the Book Festival at the weekend to promote his new book The Third Man, Lord Mandelson found himself inadvertently mentioning Mr Campbell's diaries before quickly adding "I don't commend them." He then added: "If you want to know what was going on in Alistair's head every night after he had done the dishes, buy the diaries."

No T-bones about it

IT's official. Edinburghers love their burgers.

A new survey by an online butcher has discovered that people from Edinburgh enjoy beef more than any other meat.

Forty-one per cent of Capital dwellers chose beef as their favourite meat, compared with a Scottish national average of 36 per cent.

Innocent till proven Tory

WHEN the enigmatic phrase "Mark Wallinger Is Innocent" appeared above the Calton Road entrance to Waverley Station in 2008 few people knew who Mark Wallinger was or what he had been accused of.

However, one person who clearly knows of Turner prize-winning artist Wallinger is culture secretary Ed Vaisey, who has just purchased a print of the former Billboard For Edinburgh art installation for his Westminster office.

Vaisey admitted that Wallinger, a lifelong Labour supporter, would probably be horrified by his purchase.

Wallinger himself refused to comment, but should anyone infer that Vaisey's endorsement of his work meant that he had now become a Tory his response would undoubtedly be: "Mark Wallinger Is Innocent."