Molon Labe....

A 10ft statue of a bear has been ordered to be removed from a roadside - after a scared woman driver blamed it for causing a crash.

Yes, dear reader, we've been here before.

But locals are fighting the removal - with councillor Peter James saying: 'He has been an iconic gateway of the town for 15 or more years.

'I don't understand why he has to be moved now it's been in situ for years.

'We have pleaded with the Welsh Government to listen to us on road safety, but the Welsh Government seem to get things the wrong way round.

'They've not discussed removing him with the town council or local people. They must know Llanwrtyd is an iconic place but they seem to want to step in our way.'

Of course they do. What, you thought they worked for you, or something?

Another Llanwrtyd resident, who asked not to be named, said the woman crashed because she feared the bear would attack her.

'Apparently she had been on holiday in Canada, or was from Canada so was used to seeing bears in Canada. She can't have been from around here or she would have seen him before as he's been there years.

'The bear has been there a few years and I'm not aware of anybody ever having objected to it before.He has become a bit of a landmark but if that's what the powers that be have decided we don't really have much say in it, but it seems a bit of a palaver because one woman got frightened by it.'

I can see why you asked to be kept anonymous, with that defeatist attitude.

A spokesman for the Welsh Government said its view is the items on the verge are distracting so must be removed.

The spokesman said if the bear wasn't removed by locals they would seize it themselves.

Over to you, people of Llanwrtyd. I think you know what to do. Or do Welshmen yield now?