In Brief

‘Naked men’ to remain on beach LONDON – Local authorities voted on Wednesday to allow Antony Gormley’s installation Another Place – made up of 100 cast-iron sculptures of naked men – to remain on a beach in northwest England.

The identical figures, which gaze out to sea along a three-kilometre stretch of sand, were cast from moulds of Gormley’s own body. Since they were installed in 2005 on Crosby Beach, near Liverpool, the installation has been a hit with residents and visitors, who flock to the beach to be photographed with the 1,9-metre figures.Last year, local authorities at Sefton council refused to extend the artworks’ temporary permission to remain after complaints from coast guards – who said they could lure people into soft sand and mud – and environmentalists, who were concerned the extra visitors posed a hazard to birds and some locals offended by the nudity.Sefton council’s planning department granted a reprieve on Wednesday after Another Place Ltd, which runs the exhibition, agreed to remove 16 sculptures from the most contentious areas and to reduce the size of the site.* Cop ‘repeatedly punched woman’ LONDON – South Yorkshire police said yesterday they were carrying out a full investigation after an officer was filmed on a security camera repeatedly punching a woman while arresting her.CCTV pictures obtained by the Guardian newspaper and broadcast widely on television showed the officer punching Toni Comer five times while apprehending her last year for damaging a car, an offence she has since admitted.The officer involved, named by the Guardian as police constable Anthony Mulhall, said he was acting in self-defence.He has been withdrawn from public duties, but not suspended, while the inquiry is carried out.The footage shows Comer, 20, wrestling with the officer outside a nightclub in Sheffield from which she had been ejected.Other officers then come to assist.Nampa-AP-ReutersSince they were installed in 2005 on Crosby Beach, near Liverpool, the installation has been a hit with residents and visitors, who flock to the beach to be photographed with the 1,9-metre figures.Last year, local authorities at Sefton council refused to extend the artworks’ temporary permission to remain after complaints from coast guards – who said they could lure people into soft sand and mud – and environmentalists, who were concerned the extra visitors posed a hazard to birds and some locals offended by the nudity.Sefton council’s planning department granted a reprieve on Wednesday after Another Place Ltd, which runs the exhibition, agreed to remove 16 sculptures from the most contentious areas and to reduce the size of the site. * Cop ‘repeatedly punched woman’ LONDON – South Yorkshire police said yesterday they were carrying out a full investigation after an officer was filmed on a security camera repeatedly punching a woman while arresting her.CCTV pictures obtained by the Guardian newspaper and broadcast widely on television showed the officer punching Toni Comer five times while apprehending her last year for damaging a car, an offence she has since admitted.The officer involved, named by the Guardian as police constable Anthony Mulhall, said he was acting in self-defence.He has been withdrawn from public duties, but not suspended, while the inquiry is carried out.The footage shows Comer, 20, wrestling with the officer outside a nightclub in Sheffield from which she had been ejected.Other officers then come to assist.Nampa-AP-Reuters