Street art to help protect large hoardings from vandalism has been named among the worst council-funded artwork in the country.

It was feared the boards in Canterbury would become a "taggers' paradise" after they were erected near the 16-home Kingsmead Field development.

The city council worked with councillors and the Friends of Kingsmead Field on the design, which was completed by street artist Liam Dowd and displays the words, 'love where we live'.

However, the work has since been shortlisted in a competition by pressure group the TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) to find the worst piece of artwork funded by a local authority in the country.

Harry Fone, grassroots campaign manager of the TPA, said: "Pointless public artwork flies in the face of common sense.

"In the middle of a cost of living crisis, this is the last thing households want their hard-earned cash frittered away on.

"Councils must stop throwing money down the drain and focus funds on frontline services."

But the list has been slammed by the city council and the Friends community group for showing both "ignorance and distaste".

A Freedom of Information request submitted by TPA found the work cost £3,450.

Overall, UK councils have spent more than £14.6 million on public artwork since 2019.

The city display is among seven others to be shortlisted, including pieces in Richmond, Caerphilly and Stoke. The competition, which can be viewed here, closes at midday tomorrow.

Sian Pettman from Friends of Kingsmead Field said the group's criticism of the artwork seems "utterly misplaced" as abuse of rivers "has never been more in the public eye".

"This piece of artwork was specifically designed to encourage an appreciation of the River Stour, one of only 200 chalk streams in the world, and the environmental setting for the Cathedral and the city," she said.

"On the financial front, it has largely paid for itself as it has never once been graffitied, unlike the neighbouring hoardings which have continually been tagged, requiring frequent and costly cleaning and repainting.

"On the aesthetic front, it has been widely admired and added real interest to long ugly stretches of hoarding surrounding the rest of the building site.

"On the community relations front, it has played an important role in helping to forge a partnership between Canterbury City Council and the Friends of Kingsmead Field in working together to enhance the Kingsmead area.

"The decision by the TPA to include it as one of the contestants of a competition to determine the worst piece of artwork funded by a local authority shows both ignorance and distaste."

Work on the council-funded housing project was stalled in late-2020 after the firm charged with building the properties, Coombs, went into administration.

The housing scheme is being delivered by construction company Jenner on behalf of the city council on the former playing field site.

Canterbury City Council spokesman Leo Whitlock said the hoardings were put up in July 2020 which was "long before the cost of living crisis and in the middle of the pandemic".

He also said the city was at the centre of a "huge graffiti problem" and everyone feared the boards would become a "taggers' paradise".

"While work still continues to tackle problem graffiti, the cost of keeping the hoardings clean would have been enormous and adversely affected the quality of life of those living nearby," he said.

"We worked with councillors and the Friends of Kingsmead Field on the design which was expertly executed by street artist Liam Dowd to wide acclaim and is still in place two years later having given people a great deal of pleasure.

"Their presence also helped while the brand new scheme at The Riverside was being built opposite.

"The hoardings, which will probably come down in November, were factored into the costs of the commercial project to build 16 brand new homes on part of the Kingsmead Field site - five of which will be for social rent for people on our housing waiting list."