March 17, 2020 10.35 am This story is over 48 months old

36 Lincoln Imp trail sculptures set for approval

The trail has been revealed
Some of the draft designs for the Lincoln Imps which were submitted to City of Lincoln Council.

36 Lincoln Imp sculptures look set to be given the go-ahead and scattered across the city as part of the 2020 Imp trail.

As previously reported, full-sized Imps will invade Lincoln when the trail hits the city’s streets this year.

Among the locations suggested for the imps include St Marks, the University of Lincoln library and outside the city’s Transport Hub.

Some of the draft designs were revealed in a planning application to the City of Lincoln Council last month.

Now, councillors on the authority’s planning committee have been recommended to give the green light to the statues.

You can see the full Imp trail for this year below.

Plan for the Lincoln Imp trail as submitted to City of Lincoln Council.

Lincoln BIG Chief Executive Sarah Loftus said: “We’re really excited about the IMPTrail coming to Lincoln, and the fact that planning permission has been sought for the locations of the Imps around our city.

“The designs submitted as part of the planning process are still in draft format, so what has been published online are not the final versions of our cheeky chappy.

“We invite everyone to come and see the Imps in their locations from 4th July when they will be proudly wearing their newly designed outfits.

“We’re grateful to the support of all our sponsors, the artists and look forward to raising funds for St Barnabas, our charity partner.”

The Lincoln Charter Barons’ and Lincoln Knights trails helped bring extra people into the city with 210,000 visitors and 280,000 visitors in 2015 and 2017. 

The Barons and Knights trails also raised £166,800 and £178,000 respectively for charity.

The Imps have already caught the attention of national press when they first made a birthday suit appearance in the city.

Many couldn’t help but poke fun at the statues’ long-legged design.

Some already caught a glimpse of the public painting effort. 

City councillors will make a decision on the proposals at a meeting on March 25.

SUBSCRIBE TO LOCAL DEMOCRACY WEEKLY, our exclusive email newsletter with highlights from our coverage every week and insights and analysis from our local democracy reporters.