Duke of Wellington's Ukraine cone becomes online hit

A family's "uniquely Glasgow" gesture of support for the people Ukraine has become a huge online hit after they placed a blue and yellow cone on the famous Duke of Wellington statue.

Buildings around the world have been lit up in Ukraine's national colours since the conflict began.

But Emma Shearer wanted a cheeky way to sum up her city's solidarity.

So she asked her mother to crochet a cover for the traffic cone which traditionally sits on the duke's head.

A video of Emma's stepfather Garry McWhirter putting the cone in place on Sunday evening has now been viewed thousands of times.

Emma told BBC Radio Scotland's Drivetime programme it felt like "a fitting way to show that Glasgow cares".

She said: "Me, my mum and Garry had been watching the events unfold in Ukraine and were just feeling really helpless and upset by it all.

"We felt like we wanted to do something - not that we can do much to help, but just a gesture in a Glasgow way.

"I thought about the Duke of Wellington and his cone and just said, why don't we decorate that. It just felt quite fitting."

They topped the cone with sunflowers - Ukraine's national flower - as a symbol of peace.

"It just looks really sweet," added Emma.

"We wanted to do it kind of sneakily so that people would wake up the next day and see the cone, but it's in such a busy square that there was no chance of that happening.

"People reacted really positively and I think that's just the Glasgow way. Everybody just comes together.

"This is the message behind the cone - that Glasgow cares and we want people in Ukraine to know that Glasgow is thinking of them.

"People have been commenting on it online, saying their friends have seen it in Ukraine and that's a really positive thing about it going viral."