Father is left furious after receiving an anonymous note asking him to remove his five-year-old daughter’s ‘awful’ mural which pays tribute to the NHS
- Alan Jones, 33, from Ardsley, South Yorkshire, said mural has been up a week
- Daughter Fleur thought she was in trouble when received complaining note
- Mural features heart in chalk on side of their home and words ‘NHS thank you’
- Alan said people have shown solidarity with Fleur after he posted on Facebook
A father was left fuming after a snobby neighbour shoved a note through his letterbox telling him to remove his daughter’s ‘awful’ NHS artwork.
Fleur Jones, five, thought she was in trouble after her dad Alan told her they may have to remove her mural after a complaint from a neighbour.
The youngster had drawn a heart in chalk on the side of their home in Ardsley, South Yorkshire, along with a message which read, ‘NHS thank you’, reports LeedsLive.
Mr Jones, 33, said: ‘She’s trying to get her head around certain stuff going on at the moment so we encouraged her to draw love hearts on the side of the house in a rainbow colour with the words “NHS thank you”.
Fleur Jones, five, pictured, thought she was in trouble after her dad Alan told her they may have to remove her mural after a complaint from a neighbour
‘We’ve been teaching her about hospitals so we did that on the front of the house as we had a little wall and she has coloured each brick in different colours of pastel chalk.
‘It has been up for a week but then I came home on Friday to this note pushed through my letterbox.’
The note, which had a stamp on it and was anonymous, said: ‘I don’t want to sound awful but [could] you please wash the chalk off your walls. It looks quite awful. These houses take pride in their homes. Thank you.’
Mr Jones, a bin man who is classed as a key worker, was ‘furious’ when he found the note.
Mr Jones, a bin man who is classed as a key worker, was ‘furious’ when he found the note, which had a stamp on it and was anonymous
He explained to Fleur that they may have to remove the chalk from the wall and the innocent youngster feared she was in trouble.
However, after police came round to visit Mr Jones’ house, they reassured Fleur that she had done nothing wrong.
Mr Jones said: ‘People were offering us more chalk and one lady from Canada even said she wanted to knit Fleur a rainbow.
‘One of my friends is a police officer and he saw it on Facebook so after that two PCSOs came round to see if Fleur was alright because it was upsetting for her as she thought she was in trouble.’
After police came round to visit Mr Jones’ house, they reassured Fleur that she had done nothing wrong
In solidarity with Fleur, other neighbours have chalked their walls to support the NHS and key workers.
Mr Jones said he believed everyone should be sticking together and supporting one another during the coronavirus pandemic.
He added: ‘The world is in absolute turmoil and we should all stick together and support each other.
‘They are not welcome and to say it’s a posh area – well, we are all working class around here. It’s not the kind of area they say it is and we’re not in Kensington.
‘They need to keep their opinions to themselves and if they don’t want to support the NHS and key workers that’s up to them – but the majority do and we will not let them win.’