A GOLDEN toilet appeared in Highworth days after thieves stole a similar but far more expensive one from Blenheim Palace.

The luscious lavatory mysteriously sprung up outside the new Visit Highworth museum and information centre in the town’s high street earlier this week.

Coun Paul Newton Smith said: “I came over to the centre on Monday night to do some work and noticed it right outside the window.

"My photo of it generated a few laughs and jokes online but a few days later, it was gone. It just came and went, very strange.

"Someone's put a lot of effort into it - it's a proper toilet and lid spray painted gold - so it's weird that it just disappeared so soon. Hopefully it'll turn up again.

"Everyone's talking about it, it's a bit of fun."

"The information centre's officially opening on Saturday but this isn't like some sort of publicity thing we did, I genuinely don't know who did it or why - I wish we had thought of that, though!"

The arrival of the curious commode follows the much-publicised theft of a solid gold toilet worth £4.8 million from Blenheim Palace earlier this month.

The source of the cheap knock-off is unknown - perhaps a Highworth equivalent of Banksy? -

Anyone wishing to see the posh privy in person will be out of luck - it has now mysteriously disappeared from the scene.

The Visit Highworth information centre and museum aims to bring more visitors to the town. It opens tomorrow from 10.30am.