Granite used as part of six-figure restoration of the area around Helston's Grylls Monument has been described as "sub standard" and the work "diabolical."

Neil Williams has written to the town council to complain about the colour of two of the new bollards placed in front of the monument,which he claims are "tainted" and too brown in colour, compared to the grey stone used in the town's buildings such as the Guildhall and Lloyds Bank.

The two in question are each half a grey-coloured granite and half a browner-tinged stone, with Mr Williams believing they should be replaced.

However, those behind the scheme have been quick to defend it.

In a letter to the council, which members are due to discuss when they meet tomorrow, Mr Williams wrote: "There are bollards made from sub standard granite, which makes the whole frontage look terrible.

"If you pay for a first class job then you have the right to ensure that the task is completed to the satisfaction of all and not accept the dreadful excuse that that is the way the granite came out of the ground."

He claims two stonemasons had referred to the granite used as "spoil" and "would never be used by them under any circumstances."

However, a member of the landscape architects team from MeiLoci, Melissa Ralph, said the stone used was in fact newly worked Cornish granite from Chywoon Quarry at Longdowns - the closest quarry to Helston and one of the very few left in the county.

Samples were approved by herself and town regeneration officer Martin Searle, as well as members of the public realm board overseeing the project.

In her reply to Mr Williams, Ms Ralph wrote: "I agree that Grylls Monument is built using grey granite, ie from deeper in the quarry layers. However, pavements, walls and other boundary features in Cornish streets are often traditionally made using granite with more variation in colour, varying from grey to buff/pink."

One example, she said, was that the adjacent railing support stones, dating back to 1834, were buff to brown in colour.

She added that she had also received a comment from another local resident, who said the bollards and paving in their opinion were "too grey and not brown enough."

Despite this, Mr Williams responded in a second letter: "It appears on face value that Helston has yet again been fobbed off with second rate work.

"Whatever way you dress it, these two bollards are not in keeping with the monument itself. I submit a proposal to Helston Town Council not to accept this inferior work and insist that these two offending bollards are replaced."