A prized hedge spelling out the name of a village is missing some letters after a council blunder. 

The 'Chideock' hedge, near the car park off Foss Orchard in the village, is now missing its 'C' and 'K'.

Baffled villagers thought the beloved hedge had been vandalised at first, but Bridport Town Council admitted it was a mistake made by one of its workers.

(Image: Lily Oosthuizen) The town council has 'apologised profusely' for the error. 

A spokesman explained: "The grounds team carried out maintenance works to the hedge but unfortunately one of the operatives was unaware of the sculpting of the name ‘Chideock’ into the hedge, which was not obvious when the work started because it had become very overgrown. Consequently, the letters ‘c’ and ‘k’ from the end were cut away in error. 

(Image: Lily Oosthuizen) "I'm really sorry for this unfortunate mistake. A quite new and inexperienced member of our team didn't realise that the lettering, which had become quite overgrown, was there.  We'll be working with Chideock Parish Council to see what can be done to put things right."

They added: "We will be happy to work with the parish council to see what can reasonably be done to restore the lettering – although I appreciate this will not be straightforward."

One villager told the News it was 'sad to see the hedge in such a state' and that the letters 'had to have been there about 10- to 15 years.'