Villagers hope for gold with Olympic-themed display

BBC A model of the Eiffel Tower and Olympic rings sit alongside a war memorial, with flower beds and benches in frontBBC
A model of the Eiffel Tower and Olympic rings form part of a display this year in Brinklow, near Rugby

A village war memorial has been decorated with an Eiffel Tower and Olympic Rings in honour of the Paris 2024 sporting spectacle.

The 18ft (5.5m) model of the iconic tower lights up at night, and will be in situ in Brinklow, near Rugby, for about a month throughout the Olympics and Paralympics.

The display is part of the annual Rugby In Bloom competition and the village is hoping to top the medal table with a gold, after last year's silver gilt.

A spokesman said even if they did not win they had had fun making it.

A model of the Olympic rings, sat behind a raised flower bed, with letters and numbers reading Paris 2024 on a wall
The display has been created to mark this year's Olympic Games in Paris

“Even if we don’t get an award, we’ve had some fun making it and the people in Brinklow, I think, have a little bit of respect for the fact that we try hard to bring the village up and make it look important,” said parish council chair John Reid.

He said the display would be easily recognisable as Paris with the Eiffel Tower.

“We had a nice flagpole which is 18ft high, and the thought it was a good position to be able to reposition the flagpole and turn it into the Eiffel Tower,” he said.

A simple graphic in black and pink displaying the words, More on Paris Olympics