A “beating” heart sculpture has been placed in a Kent shopping centre to make passersby feel proud of their home town.

The Heart of Ashford is a 3.5m high fibre glass replica of a human heart, decorated in black and white to resemble an illustration from an old medical journal, and housed in a glass and wood case like a lab exhibit.

When observers at Ashford’s Park Mall shopping centre turn a brass handle on the front of the case, elasticated material allows the heart to “beat” while lights inside the sculpture are illuminated.

Scroll down for video

It was inspired by William Harvey, the physician credited with being the first person to describe in detail the circulatory system and the heart’s role within it, and the man Ashford’s hospital was named after.

The installation was designed and built by Whitstable artist Phillip Long, who made national headlines two years ago when he created a giant urinal sculpture on Herne Bay Pier in honour of French artist Marcel Duchamp.

Phillip, who made the heart with Herne Bay artist Wren Jones, said: “When I first unveiled the urinal sculpture it was very controversial. There were whole online forums of people who were actually quite offended by it.

"But when people found out it was a tribute to the godfather of modern art, who had created some of his most important works in Herne Bay, people’s attitudes changed.

“Through the sculpture people found out who Marcel Duchamp was and they could be proud of his connection to their town. I wanted to do something similar in other parts of Kent.”

Phillip found out about Ashford’s Artigras festival, organised by charity The Creative Collective, through a friend and decided to see if that east Kent town had links to any famous faces that could inspire his next piece.

Video: Locals react to the beating heart sculpture

After a little research he discovered William Harvey.

The 45-year-old continued: “I wanted to create something that was relevant to the town and could instil a sense of pride in Ashford. Most people in Ashford would have heard of William Harvey but do they realise how globally significant he was?

“I knew straight away the sculpture was going to be a heart. The form of the human heart to some people is quite beautiful but to others it is grotesque and repellant.

"People will either love it or hate it but hopefully they will question why there’s a big heart in the middle of shopping centre and they’ll find out about this great man who has significant links with their town.”

Phillip said it was “a coincidence” the artwork was produced when the William Harvey Hospital’s A&E department, along with the one at Margate’s Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital, is under threat of closure due to cost-cutting but said it makes the sculpture all the more poignant.

“Closing the William Harvey Hospital’s A&E department would be like ripping the heart out of the community,” he added.

The Heart of Ashford will be in Park Mall for at least two weeks after which Phillip hopes to find a permanent home for it in the town.