Taxpayers fuming as Cornwall council spends £500,000 on new logo likened to boxing promoter Don King's hair

A logo for a new 'super-council' that was compared to boxing promoter Don King's hair cost a staggering £500,000 of taxpayer's money.

The flame-like emblem for Cornwall's impending unitary authority was unveiled last month but was met with huge opposition.

Critics likened the new logo to promoter King's flamboyant hairstyle and also Amy Winehouse's notoriously huge beehive.

But detailed costing has come as a further blow as council bosses reveal it cost a shocking £476,000 to design.

Councillor Graeme Hicks yesterday slammed the amount as "outrageous" stating the project should never have been given the go-ahead.

Flame-haired: Don King

Mr Hicks, county councillor for Redruth South, said: 'Nearly £500,000 is being spent on a logo which has very little support from the Cornish public.

'It is an outrageous waste of money. Now we are beginning to see just how much this new authority is going to cost.

'Huge amounts of public money are being spent and we have yet to see any savings.'

Council bosses overlooking the switch chose from more than 30 entries for the new logo, stating that they wanted it to represent a "dynamic new corporate identity".

But when the black and gold logo was revealed in June, it was blasted as a "load of rubbish" by residents.

One resident wrote on a BBC website: 'It looked like Don King's hairstyle. This is a load of rubbish. How would anyone know it was Cornwall?'

The new Cornwall Council will join district councils with the existing county council and come into force next April.

Residents claim the county council's current emblem, a historic crest of a fisherman, miner and a chough (type of bird), should have remained.

Mike Clayton, deputy leader of Cornwall County Council, stated that councillors should have looked at the "financial implications" before launching the project.

'This is yet another example where councillors were expected to make decisions without seeing the financial implications first', he said.

'Now we are suddenly looking at a report which says it is going to cost half a million pounds.'

However, council bosses stood by the decision yesterday, explaining how the design had a "contemporary modern feel".

A spokesman said: 'There is always a cost for uniforms and signs. This will be greater in the first year than in future years because we are changing to Cornwall Council.

'The logo is inspiring and dynamic, bringing a contemporary modern feel to the best of Cornish tradition."