Chickens briefly returned to a roundabout near Bungay this weekend – but they were a little different to those which have lived there before.

Rather than being of the feathered variety, these two larger-than-life chickens were Bungay hoteliers dressed up to promote a local campaign.

A large online group is calling for statues to be installed on a roundabout at Ditchingham, just outside Bungay, in honour of the chickens which used to live there.

The campaign has not been given the support of the parish council, but despite this the 1,600-strong online group is hoping to find others to back their plan.

On Sunday, Tim Anderson, co-owner of the King's Head and Queen's Jules in Bungay, and Stephen Clarke, duty manager, took to the roundabout dressed as chickens as they tried to promote the cause.

Mr Anderson said: 'We wanted to publicise that lots of people in Bungay really do think the roundabout should be commemorated.

'The reaction was really positive. We were there about half an hour and every other car or lorry was beeping and waving.'

It is thought that chickens lived on the roundabout near Ditchingham Maltings for more than 50 years. In 2010 the last ones were taken away, and in the last few months a campaign has called for metal silhouette statues to commemorate them.

Mr Anderson said it was renowned across the country and should be celebrated.

'Lots of people stay at the hotel and they all know about chicken roundabout,' he said. 'It seems to us a perfect way to commemorate them as part of the history of the town.'

However, there has been opposition, with Ditchingham Parish Council deciding not to lend its support, calling them a potential safety hazard and saying that the council has a policy to 'discourage clutter on the roundabout'.

Mr Anderson said: 'Lots of places throughout the country have statues or floral displays around their roundabouts. I'm from South Shields and the Great North Run goes through there, so they have topiary statues of runners.'

Last month, live chickens were released on the roundabout but were rehomed by a member of the public.