Woman's famous gorilla statue to move to London

A large gorilla statue that sat on top of a woman's house is to be taken down and moved to London following a planning dispute.

Owner Adele Teale, from Stanley, put up the 4ft (1.2m) primate - known affectionately as Caesar - above her front door.

Wakefield Council told her she must remove the statue by 9 June or face a fine.

The gorilla would now be given to "a large store" in Mayfair in London where it would live indefinitely, she said.

When Teale lived in Leeds and worked for the city council, she had the gorilla mounted outside her home for more than 15 years and said there was "never any trouble".

She moved to Stanley in 2020 and returned Caesar to display in 2024 before being told she did not have planning permission for the ape to remain.

On 10 July last year, an enforcement notice was issued by the authority to remove Caesar.

Teale then appealed to the government's Planning Inspectorate, which ruled in Wakefield Council's favour.

Teale said locals had used him "as a landmark" and she would be "gutted" to see him go, but instead would be enjoying her new campervan.

She added: "I went as far as I could with it and I couldn't go any further to be quite honest.

"At the end of the day it's still a plastic gorilla, regardless."

She said some neighbours were "absolutely brilliant" about the gorilla, but others less so.

"People in Stanley have absolutely been amazing, absolutely amazing, the people that do come from Stanley and live in Stanley itself. I've had 1,000% off them, you know," she said.

The council advised her she could have kept Caesar in her garden, but she said she had now removed him.

"It's done. I've had to take it down, there's nothing else I can do."

Teale said she would not be replacing the gorilla with anything else after her brush with the planning regulations.

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