GUARANTEED never to keep silent if the present gusts buffeting the region are anything to go by, the biggest wind chimes the North has ever seen was erected at the weekend.

The 11-metre blue metal sculpture, which was forged by artist Phil Johnson, was carefully put into position at the bottom of Silver Street, Stockton, Teesside, yesterday, on a site overlooking the River Tees.

A delighted Stockton Borough Council is trumpeting it as the town's Millennium wind feature.

The authority will be hoping to avoid a repeat of controversy prompted by a sculpture of running greyhounds, installed in recent years on the other side of Stockton High Street.

That piece of art was criticised by some people, who claimed it reinforced the Andy Capp, flat cap, dog-racing stereotypical image of the North.