Not so Michael Shannon, of Camps Farm, near Thankerton where a giant bogus bovine has been standing at his farmroad end onto the main A73 road for the last few weeks, quickly becoming a local landmark.

And that is exactly the result Michael was aiming for when he put the counterfeit coo' there!

He explained to the Gazette that, with his partner, he now runs the Damn Delicious beef and lamb supply business from his farm.

It is an jndependent venture to market locally-reared meat to local restaurants, businesses and private buyers.

Michael claims that the new venture is catching on fast these days with people taking a greater interest in how their meat is produced.

At Camps Farm he said that all the beasts are bred in the most natural conditions possible, out in open pastures and minus any artificial processing in producing the end product.

The meat is also properly hung for a month on the bone.

However, Michael's only trouble was getting the business known.

The traditional way of small farm and other country businesses doing that was via roadside advertising.

By its very nature, Camps Farm is off the beaten track, the nearest main thoroughfare, the A73 Lanark-Biggar road being some way from the premises down the farm road.

However, this was where officialdom stepped in.

As publicised in the Gazette, the roads authority, South Lanarkshire Council, recently conducted a major crackdown on roadside advertising.

As a result, several businesses have been told to remove signs
erected on another stretch of the A73 as it enters Biggar. And Michael may face the same problem.

He is currently going through the proper channels of applying for
official permission for a roadside advertising sign.

In the meantime, his giant false cow is serving to attract the attention of passing drivers.

Said Michael:"I thought it would be a fun way of not only publicising the business but also giving folk passing a wee smile on their way to and from work."

As an advertising campaign, it probably won't win any major awards.

However, at least, 'Molly Moo, The Coo' — as Michael has dubbed her — won a runners-up prize when she was unveiled at the recent Tinto Village Day celebrations!