'It was not our intention to install Christmas lights that remind people of a penis': Mayor apologises for Belgian town’s phallic Christmas decorations

A Belgian mayor has admitted to local residents that he did not intentionally set out to make this year's Christmas decorations appear quite so phallic.

The new Christmas lights, made using the colours of the city, were recently installed in the municipality of Oudenburg in the Belgian province of West Flanders and several local boroughs. 

Officials were originally thinking of candles, but then decided a flame at the top of the white column was a cliché and so they put in a blue ball instead.

However, it was not long before residents realised the new festive decor looked more like male genitalia than anything to do with Christmas.

A Belgian mayor has admitted to local residents in Oudenburg he did not mean to make this year's Christmas decorations appear quite so phallic

Officials were originally thinking of candles, but then decided a flame at the top of the white column was a cliché and so they put in a blue ball instead. Above, the penis-shaped Christmas lights are placed next to a bus stop

Mayor Anthony Dumarey said: 'Of course, it was not our intention to install Christmas lights that remind people of a penis.'

He added: 'But we do see the lighter side of the incident.'

The mayor said that the decorations, consisting of a long shaft with a bulbous blue tip, did not appear quite so phallic until they were turned on.

Dumarey said: 'I only realised it myself when they were illuminated. But we have to see the humour in this.'

The decorations were designed by the council's technical department as part of a long-term plan for the area that included illuminated pyramids.

It was not long before residents realised the new festive decor looked more like male genitalia than anything to do with Christmas

The mayor said: 'Our technical department designed them. If we had bought them, it would have cost us around three times as much. So we chose the city's colours and put a blue tip on top because we thought a flame was cliche.

'There has been a lot of reaction, but of course we did not intentionally set out to make them this way.

'I see the funny side of it myself. We really have to do that in these dark and difficult times.

'The first time I saw them during the day, I didn't pay any attention to them. Once they were illuminated, I noticed immediately. But I see no reason to remove or replace them.'

The mayor added: 'Let's just say that we will have the country's most talked-about Christmas lights this year.'