A 56ft-long white dragon carved into the roadside on the A494 near Shotwick, on the Wales-England border, has vanished after being covered by grass and shrubs. Installed in 2009 as part of a £61 million 'Welcome to Wales' gateway scheme, the £20,000 sculpture was meant to be a permanent feature greeting drivers entering the country, but has become invisible less than 20 years later owing to a lack of maintenance.

The dragon was made from 400 metres of steel edging filled with 10 tonnes of white marble pebbles, inspired by the historic white horse hill carvings in Wiltshire, which by contrast have been kept up. The sculpture had previously courted controversy for facing the wrong way — towards England rather than Wales — and for being white rather than the traditional Welsh red. A nearby white lion has also become overgrown. Responsibility for maintenance falls to Highways England, which faced a public outcry over the emblems' shabby appearance in late 2013 and promised action. Disappointed fans have called for the dragon to be restored.