A decision will be taken this evening as to whether Oxford’s iconic Headington Shark house should be protected.

It is one of 17 potential new additions to the Oxford Heritage Asset Register to be considered at a city council planning meeting.

The Shark sculpture at 2 New High Street, Headington, draws hundreds of visitors.

But owner Magnus Hanson-Heine is adamant he does not want it added to the city council's list of important pieces of heritage.

He said: "I'll be watching very closely. I think it's objectionable and against the symbolism of the house."

Mr Hanson-Heine, 34, inherited the house from his late dad Bill in 2016 and it is now a star attraction on Airbnb.

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Bill Heine, an American-born journalist and broadcaster, installed the statue in secret without planning permission in 1986 and a six-year planning row with Oxford City Council immediately erupted.

Inclusion on the register does not place any extra legal requirements on owners but it “helps to influence planning decisions in a way that conserves and enhances local character”.

Mr Hanson-Heine said there were two aspects to his objection.

He said he feared it was “a stepping stone” towards getting it listed on a national basis, meaning more planning controls – although “this is academic as I have no intention of removing it”.

If that happened, he said, it would go against the purpose of the sculpture, which was to protest against planning restrictions and censorship.

He said: “My father always resisted giving any conclusive answer to the question what was the meaning of it as it was designed to make people think for themselves, and decide for themselves what is art.

“But it was anti the bombing of Tripoli by the Americans, anti-nuclear proliferation, anti-censorship in the form of planning laws specifically."

He said he did not 'resent' the council for the years it spent trying to have the controversial sculpture removed or for finally approving of it.

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He added: “I see what they are trying to do and I’m sure it’s very well intentioned. But they don’t view it now as what it is.

“You grow up with these things, they become part of the scenery and you lose focus of what they mean."

Mr Hanson-Heine, who is a quantum chemist working at Nottingham University, also said the consultation form made it very difficult to dispute anything at all.

He said: “The nomination forms have been, let’s say, lacking in that they do not really provide an option to object to the listing for listing’s sake.

They ask questions like ‘do you think it adds value to the area’ which most people would say, yes it does. They have not given the option to say no. They have not truly consulted in that sense."