SENIOR councillors in Cornwall are launching a petition to scrap the controversial logo for the county's new council.

The flame-like emblem for the county's impending unitary authority has been derided since it was unveiled in June.

Opponents have compared it to the hairstyles of singer Amy Winehouse and US boxing promoter Don King, while another said it resembled "the emblem of a cattle breed society from somewhere in the Balkans".

They want the historic crest featuring a fisherman, miner and a chough to be reinstated. Now a group of independent councillors are gathering a petition to support their cause.

County councillor Julian German, who represents the Roseland, said: "We as independent councillors are just simply not prepared to sit idly by and allow our historic emblem to be ditched for an inferior logo which commands little public support.

"We feel it is crucial in a democracy that the views of the electorate are taken seriously by their elected representatives.

"This arrogant 'we know better' approach has to stop."

The move has already been supported by county councillors Colin Brewer, Armorel Carlyon, Graeme Hicks, Pam Lyne, Tony Nettle, Howard Roberts and Andrew Walters and more are expected to join their ranks.

The new logo will appear first at main council sites, leisure centres and libraries, and be changed on uniforms and corporate stationery. The final bill is estimated to reach around £476,000, taking into account the need to change the livery on all vehicles and ID cards for some 20,000 staff.

Calling it an insult that the original logo had been dropped, Coun Mark Kaczmarek said the new one "meant nothing to Cornwall".