China's communist leaders have called in the bulldozers to demolish what would have been the country's first sex theme park.

Love Land had been set to open in October in the southwestern city of Chongqing. Within hours of a nationwide blaze of publicity for the park and its over-sized statues of naked genitalia and sex workshops, the bulldozers moved in. Among the first displays to fall victim to the wreckers ball was a rotating signboard with the park's name straddled by a giant pair of women's legs topped by a red thong.

The park's manager, Lu Xiaoqing, had defended the venture, saying: "Sex is a taboo subject in China but people really need to have more access to information about it. We are building the park for the good of the public. I have found that the majority of people support my idea, but I have to pay attention and not make the park look vulgar and nasty." But he failed to win the support of city propaganda officials. A hasty weekend inspection tour after pictures of the theme park appeared in the media spelled its demise.

One city propaganda official said: "The investigation determined the park's content was vulgar and that it was neither healthy nor educational. It had an evil influence on society and had to be torn down immediately." He Shizhong, head of the municipal publicity department, said the company behind the park had "ignored its social responsibility and was interested only in profiting from sensationalism". A project manager for developers, the Mexin Group, said: "It's a pity the park had to close, but we accept the decision. We apologise if we upset any members of the public."

Insert own "it's very good but you want another after half an hour" joke here.

The protesters were too late...

The original was here