Is it just me or do you ever get the impression that some companies just haven’t thought through their mascot. West Yorkshire seems to be a hot bed of crappy mascots be they home grown or imported the streets of the county are crammed with these bizarre caricatures.

The other day driving through Saltaire (north Bradford) I saw a giant rolled up copy of the “Telegraph and Argus” walking down Keighley Road scaring little children and basically being a menace to traffic. How I wish I’d had my camera.

There are the mascots that have nothing to do with Yorkshire; why is it the Leeds Rhinos, or the Keighley Cougars, and why is Kirklees council highways department represented by a Crocodile. Although I will admit even mascots that make regional sense don’t always work. The mascot of Batley is the Bat for obvious reasons, what is not so obvious is why Kirklees council would spend all that money building a ten meter high statue that had the bats hanging up rather than down (unless of course the crocodile told them to).

One mascot that never fails to disturb me is the “Kandoo Frog” it’s a cartoon frog that wipes its arse (while stood up) in front of little children. The advert is unsettling enough but I can assure you that seeing an eight foot version greeting children, with his poo stained hand shakes, outside ASDA is much worse.

But worst of all is Bradford Cities mascot “City Gent” who as far as I can tell is just a fat man in a hat. I know Bradford are a bit strapped for cash at the moment but you could have got the guy a better costume than that. As I understand it “City Gent” walks round Valley Parade throwing coins at the fans. I think “City Gent” is only a mascot on the weekends, through the week I reckon he is His Excellency the Austrian Ambassador because he looks like he might have eaten one to many Ferrero Rocher, and he seems to enjoy diplomatic immunity. I once saw some town fans get arrested for throwing coins at some Burnley fans, which once again proves it’s not what you know but who.