Flying elephant

A visitor to the Oamaru Public Gardens yesterday was amazed to see an elephant "flying around like Dumbo" before it was put on the back of a truck and taken away.

The elephant, given to the playground by the Oamaru Round Table in 1981, no longer measured up to New Zealand Safety Standard codes and the ladder and slide were removed in 2008.

Waitaki District Council property manager Dougall McIntyre, who reiterated the structure was unsafe, said it had been removed by Brian de Geest and taken to de Geest Construction's yard, to see if it could be restored.