Carol Render loves Gary, her garden gargoyle. So she was shocked to receive an anonymous letter branding him the Satan of Seaford.

With fearsome horns, pointed wings and enormous talons, 3ft tall Gary is certainly no ordinary garden gnome.

But his loving owner Carol Render was still amazed to receive the letter, which read: "Honest church-going, God-fearing people like me are quite alarmed at the arrival of this beast.

"Children in the neighbourhood are unable to sleep, old ladies are in fear and cannot bear to walk past, dogs snarl."

Carol, whose sculptor son Paul Tether, 32, created the fallen angel on display in her front garden in Bishopstone, near Seaford, insists he is just plain cheeky.

Her partner Geoff King, 57, said they had named the gargoyle Gary.

He said: "People who have spoken to us think it's a good piece of fun.

"Nobody has said they are offended in any way - other than one letter which I can't really take seriously. We're not into Satanic rites.

"It was modelled on a gargoyle's face on Notre Dame in Paris. The letter makes reference to whoever wrote it being offended and dogs being frightened. But we have two dogs and they couldn't care less."

The statue was carved out of sand and cement over a wire frame.

Paul has already created a Mayan-style sculpture in Carol's garden in Marine Drive.