POLITICIANS are often criticised for doing U-turns, but this time it is the statue of a former Bradford MP which has been raising eyebrows.

The figure of education reformer William E Forster is now back in Bradford city centre, after 11 years in storage.

It was removed to make way for The Broadway shopping centre development, and has been put back at the mall's entrance nearest Little Germany.

But some people are questioning the way it has been positioned, facing into the shopping centre rather than out towards Little Germany, as before.

A petition has now been lodged on the website change.org, called 'Bradford: Turn the William Forster Statue around!'

The petition, by a group called All About Bradford, says: "It just doesn't look right, and many members of the Bradford community have said so.

"Unlike many statues in similar cities, it faces the shopping centre, going against the text on the plinth.

"Rather than being the backdrop to the shopping centre, it has turned his back on St. Peter's House and the cathedral."

The petition calls on developer Westfield and Bradford Council to turn the bronze figure around, and has received more than 200 signatures in less than 48 hours.

But Bradford Council stood by the way it positioned the statue, saying this had been its original position until the 1960s.

A spokesman said: "The statue of William Forster has been in more than one location over the years and we wanted to put the statue back as close as possible to its original location, which is in front of St Peter’s House overlooking, rather than turning away from the centre of the city for which he was MP.

"As you can see from the picture of the statue in its original location the only inscription on the front of the plinth is his name and this is therefore the way the statue has been put back.

"It would appear that when the statue was moved sometime in the 1960s the statue was positioned with the plinth in the wrong direction.

"Once the Broadway shopping centre is open people will be able to see this important statue back in its original position, framed by St Peter’s House."

A spokesman for Westfield declined to comment, saying it was a matter for the Council.

Alan Hall, chairman of the Bradford Civic Society, said he had an "open mind" about the positioning of the statue.

He said: "If you are inside the Westfield centre, coming out of it, I suppose you could say you get a good view of it.

"But it used to point out towards Little Germany and up Leeds Road.

"It depends. I have an open mind about it. I can see reasons for both.

"To be honest, I'm just really glad it has been put back somewhere, rather than being locked away in a warehouse in Shipley."