COUNCIL bosses have been left red-faced after an embarrassing blunder was discovered in Worcester's latest public artwork.

On the first day of this month, civic dignitaries proudly unveiled four new statues in the Cornmarket as part of the £500,000 facelift of the area.

The sculptures depict famous people associated with Worcester, and one of them shows playwright William Shakespeare and his wife Anne Hathaway, who it is believed were married at the church of St Martin, which still overlooks the Cornmarket.

But crucially, the date given on the statue's plaque for the marriage is 1682, a hundred years after it really happened.

After being contacted by the Worcester News, the county council issued a statement that said: "We have only just become aware there may be an issue with the details on the plaque of Anne Hathaway and Shakespeare. We are looking into what's happened, with a view to correcting any mistakes."

But as the great playwright himself wrote, in King John, "And often times excusing of a fault doth make the fault the worse by the excuse."

The other statues are of King Charles II, Rev Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy, better known as Woodbine Willie, and music-hall star Vesta Tilley.