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Barmy town hall chiefs have been blasted by residents for erecting giant green plant pots which has left their town "looking like a level from Super Mario Brothers".

Locals living in Walsall, West Mids., say their town has been made a laughing stock by the "garish" planters which have been placed around the Black Country town.

Walsall Council forked out thousands of pounds of a government grant on dozens of the massive planters which they claimed "promoted a feeling of wellbeing and safety".

Residents say more of the pots have been added to the area over the past year leaving the town centre "looking like something from Super Mario Brothers".

While some drew comparisons to the "warp pipes" from the hit Nintendo computer game others simply believe they are a waste of taxpayers' cash.

The town has been hit by several store closures in recent years and some believe money could be better spent investing in driving businesses to the centre.

Carl Richards, 33, from Bloxwich, Walsall., said: "They have slowly been adding to this weird collection of garish green planters over the past year or so.

"The town centre has become known now for looking like something from Super Mario Brothers. Other than that it's a ghost town and it's really sad to see.

"You sometimes get drunk lads jumping on them making the Super Mario noises. They serve no purpose but to make us look like a bit of a laughing stock.

"There's empty shops, antisocial behaviour and crumbling buildings yet the council thought these Mario warp pipes would be the best thing for Walsall."

Retired lorry driver Bill Danks, 74, of Leamore, Walsall, added: "I think they look stupid. Walsall used to be a thriving market town and now we just have big green plant pots.

"Businesses are not being attracted to the area and this will not help matters. This is not the sort of investment Walsall needs. It's just trying to polish over cracks.

"I've never heard of Super Mario but there's certainly nothing super about Walsall anymore."