HARWICH businesses are being urged to get behind an octopus artwork project so the town is at the “heart of the scheme”.

More than 100 giant painted octopus sculptures will be seen throughout the Harwich, Tendring and Colchester areas next summer.

The aim of the project is to celebrate Harwich, the hometown of the historic Mayflower ship, which sailed to America 400 years ago in 2020.

The art project, called Octopus Ahoy, has been developed by Tendring Council and Milsom Hotels, in partnership with KAT Marketing.

Katie Skingle, director of KAT Marketing, called on the Harwich Tourism Group to support the project and buy sculptures to scatter around the town at its meeting on Wednesday, at The Pier, in Harwich.

She said: “What’s wonderful about the project is that the octopuses are completely malleable and you can turn them into whatever you want.

“You can really make this a wonderful project for the area, but we really need people to put trust in that to start with.”

The sculptures are set to be 4ft by 4ft and £5,000 each, and with a concrete base they will weigh 150kg each.

Katie said her company also has a budget for artists and is encouraging octopus-themed art murals to be painted in parts of the town.

She said: “At the moment, all eight of the legs are still kicking under water.

“We have got to ask some local businesses so they have the sculptures positioned in Harwich.

“We want to make sure the heart of it all is in Harwich, so we are going to need some help and support.”

The aim is to have a cluster of sculptures in and around Harwich, as well as other sculptures around Tendring and Colchester which are all part of a phone app residents and visitors follow.

The octopus sculptures will be on display between July 4 and September 12 next year.

Octopus Ahoy will be officially launched on October 30 at The Pier between 6pm and 8pm.

This business reception will be for patrons, and potential patrons, to learn more about the project.

Organisers are also deciding what Essex charities the money raised from auctioning the sculptures will be distributed to.

For details visit octopusahoy.co.uk.