An investigation has been launched after a man offered Victorian bollards from Brighton seafront for sale on Facebook.
The sale of seafront ironwork has been a political hot potato in recent years after historical lanterns were offered for sale in a similar manner two years ago.
However, the council also said it was possible these bollards were not actually from Brighton seafront, as with a similar case last year.
A council spokesman said: “We do not sell or dispose of architectural or iconic infrastructure to the public.
“We are investigating the social media posting and attempting to contact the person involved.
“We will take appropriate action to retrieve the bollards if they are or were council property. We will not hesitate to involve the police if necessary.
“We would stress that at this stage we don’t yet know if these are genuine seafront bollards. But given the style and paint colour they certainly might be.
“In a similar case last year, we found that the bollards in question were in fact not council property and never had been.”
The lanterns listed on Facebook in 2020 were among those removed by a council contractor for repair.
The council then said it was considering calling in the police – but the contractor, Colas, subsequently apologised and said they were put for sale due to an “uncharacteristic human error”.
Brighton and Hove News has contacted the account which listed the bollards this week, but not received a response.
