“Poorly installed” artwork had to be removed from a town centre after just four days due to heavy winds.

Residents and shopkeepers have criticised the installation of scores of umbrellas in Guildhall Street, Folkestone – with some branding it a “waste of time and money”.

The brightly coloured artwork appeared on Friday, May 28 but strong winds quickly left them battered and broken.

Images showed about 100 umbrellas in perfect condition on the first day they were erected.

However, 24 hours later many of the pieces had been ruined by the weather conditions.

Adrian Woods, who owns the Sorting Gifts shop in Guildhall Street, says the artwork was “great for footfall but poorly executed”.

“It was good for Guildhall Street for the first day or two. They did attract people and they looked lovely but the wind destroyed them very quickly,” he said.

“It definitely improved footfall, loads of people were coming to take photos, but I think the umbrellas were too cheap.”

Mr Woods believes Guildhall Street is in need of more footfall, but says the poor installation and heavy winds made the project fail.

He added: “We desperately need visitors down here, it’s terrible. I thought it was a good idea but just poorly executed.

“From the day they put them up, we had nothing but heavy wind!

“They came back to repair them, but it didn’t work.”

On Facebook, residents said they believed “common sense was not used”, with one describing the work as “a waste of time and money”.

Another joked: “Considering I’d argue that on its day Folkestone is the windiest place on the planet, I'm not too sure what the thought process was behind this.”

It has not been confirmed who was responsible for the installation of the artwork.