Gormley told: Keep your 'action man' off our grass

* Antony Gormley, if he so wished, could undoubtedly lay claim to being our greatest living sculptor. His latest exhibition, however, has sparked off tension among some of his lesser known colleagues in the British art scene.

Gormley, creator of the Angel of the North, recently erected 30 nude sculptures around London to promote his current show at the Hayward Gallery.

One such work was placed on the fly tower over at the National Theatre. This has caused problems. The fly tower is currently adorned in grass as part of an installation by the celebrated artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey. Friends have told Pandora the pair are, to put it mildly, "miffed" that one of Gormley's works is now trespassing on what is their biggest project to date.

Says one: "Imagine if you had created a masterpiece and I put an action-man figure on top of it. That's what it's like."

The two works got double-booked after the lawn installation was shelved last year thanks to the hosepipe ban. A spokesman at the Hayward says Gormley's work was booked to appear at the NT two years ago, so the space has now had to be shared.

"It was unfortunate there was this diary clash," says a spokesman for Ackroyd and Harvey. "Yes, Heather and Dan would have preferred the sculpture not to be there, and we tried to work on this, but there wasn't room for negotiation on the Antony Gormley statue."

* If Zac Goldsmith manages to overturn the Liberal Democrats' slim majority in Richmond Park at the next election, it's likely to thrust him further into the glare of the media spotlight.

Which could potentially prove tricky. Goldsmith is thought to share his late father's reservations about the "feral beasts" of my trade, and his elegant wife, Sheherazade, left with Zac, is similarly reticent when it comes to speaking to the press.

So how does the daunting prospect of becoming a Tory wife grab her?

"Well to be honest, I don't know, I've not really thought about it and I don't want to think about it at all right now," she said at the launch of her book, A Slice of Organic Life.

"If it happens, it happens, if not then so be it. It's just one of those things. If [Zac] gets in, I'll do my job and he'll do his."

* If recent reports are to be believed, Peter O'Toole has taken up an offer to play Pope Paul III.

According to the screen trade bible Variety, he's just been signed up to appear opposite the Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the second series of the American television show The Tudors, which will chart the conflict between the Pope and Henry VIII.

O'Toole's depiction of the pontiff could make interesting viewing, since he makes no secret of his hatred for his Catholic education.

He claims to have been repeatedly beaten at school by nuns for being left-handed and, so the story goes, for once drawing in art class a urinating horse with oversized privates.

* Much has been made of London 2012's baffling Olympic logo. But what monstrosity can we expect when the games' official mascot is announced?

A spokesman at 2012 HQ insists that it won't be launched until sometime after next year's Olympic Games in Beijing.

In the meantime, the upmarket fancy dress outfitters Angels are holding a competition in search for a mascot design which entrants feel best reflects modern Britain.

The winning entry will be made by the company into a costume available for hire. Being generous sorts, they also say that if Tessa Jowell wants to use the winning design, she won't have to waste 400 large for the privilege.

* What with conflict raging in both Iraq and Afghanistan, you'd think our Army chiefs have quite enough on their plates at the moment without having to deal with vermin trouble.

A recent Parliamentary question tabled by the Labour MP Kevan Jones has revealed that the general officer commanding London district has been forced to call in the exterminators not once but twice over the past year to eradicate mice in his Army residence.

Maintenance costs reveal that the household has received one visit costing £112.50 and another at £84.38 to the taxpayer. It has also suffered from problems with flea infestation.

The luxury pad, I'm told, just happens to be a short walk from Tony and Cherie's swanky new private home. I do hope they don't end up having similar problems with the local wildlife.

pandora@independent.co.uk