Topiarist 'sickened' by drunk people simulating sex with his woman-shaped hedge

'I don't want them to behave like that with my privet lady,' Keith Tyssen says

A silversmith who has been sculpting a hedge outside his home into the shape of a reclining woman for nearly two decades has said he is “disgusted” by drunk people pretending to have sex with it.

Vandals pull apart the legs of his “privet lady” and simulate sexual intercourse, causing damage, Keith Tyssen, of Sheffield, said.

He told the BBC: ”It makes me feel a bit sick, really. That’s just not the way to behave – in lots of ways.

“It’s not always a guy actually, sometimes it’s women who climb on her.

“I don’t want them to behave like that with my privet lady.”

The topiarist, who is also a designer and silversmith, told the broadcaster he had been sculpting the hedge for some 40 years,.

In 2000 he altered its original form – a Greek god – to a reclining woman.

It was inspired by a 16th century sculpture in gold called the The Saliera, by Benvenuto Cellini.

Mr Tyssen opened his metal workshop in Sheffield in 1963 and has worked on commission for the government, universities and churches.

He is currently focusing on creating fine silverware and pewterware.