A giant stone head is set to return to the side of the A39 at Coxley.

The head has been standing outside a Frome van hire firm for four years after being sold by mistake by Wells Reclamation, of Coxley.

The sculpture was brought back from China by the owner of Wells Reclamation, Haydn Davies, five years ago.

He wanted to keep it to sit outside his yard like the other iconic items – including a Bloodhound anti-aircraft missile, a two-ton cast iron bull and an armoured car – that bring thousands of visitors to the yard.

Some passers-by thought the 6ft bust, weighing a ton, looked like Stalin – others said it was a foreign statesman.

It is, in fact, a giant sculpture of Lu Xun, considered by many to be the father of modern Chinese literature.

Mr Davies makes two trips a year to China to buy unusual items to brighten up gardens and houses in the UK.

Lu Xun was the pen name of Zhou Shuren, who died in1936.

He was a short story writer, an essayist and an influential critic who became the titular leader of the Chinese League of Left-Wing Writers in Shanghai in the 1930s.

Chairman Mao was said to be a lifelong admirer of his works.

Mr Davies said: "I wanted it to be part of the ambience of the yard. But when I was out of the yard one day, it was sold for £1,500 by mistake.

"I think the chap who has it now wants to sell it back to me."

Mr Davies said he was going to buy it back from its current owner, Andrew Mead, from Just Vans of Frome.

"Some people have said it's got antique value because it's four years older now," he said.