Hopes to restore a carved holly wreath to the recently renovated Pedlar of Swaffham sign have been dashed.

As previously reported, former Swaffham Hamond's teacher Colin Yorke restored the sign for free because he said he counted the town as part of his extended family.

The sign was returned to its plinth in March this year, but without the carved holly wreath, which was damaged beyond repair.

Eastern Daily Press readers voted in favour of having the wreath restored in an online poll, as did those who completed a survey organised by the Swaffham Newsletter.

At this month's town council meeting, however, it was decided to keep the sign without the wreath.

Town clerk Richard Bishop said: 'There has been much debate and a relatively small number of people have participated in surveys conducted within the EDP and Swaffham Newsletter.

'These people may now feel they have been ignored, but this is certainly not the case; their comments have been taken into account.

'The sign is now more weatherproof, it has evolved into something that is eminently appropriate for 2013 and we should continue to celebrate our Pedlar sign. The town council is deeply grateful to Colin Yorke for the work carried out and all things considered, the council firmly believes that the right decision has finally been reached.'

Swaffham councillors said they believed that the signage today needed to be 'simple' and 'uncluttered'. It was also considered that replacing the wreath could be 'detrimental' to the sign. The sign will be left at its current orientation.

The poll saw 82pc vote in favour of the restoration of a wreath.