A little bit of Poole history has popped up in a sunny Californian garden more than 5,000 miles away.

The instantly recognisable Victorian, Borough of Poole street lamp is lighting up a front drive in East Palo Alto, south of San Francisco.

Poole mayor Cllr Chris Bulteel was delighted when out of the blue he received a letter from Marguerite Philips, explaining how the well travelled lamp got there.

The black lamp complete with gold painted dolphin and scallop shells, was bought from the council by her parents in the 1960s and for many years was a feature of their back garden in Wallisdown.

Then in 1988 the family moved to Northern California.

“There was no way that my mother was going to leave her lamp behind so it was shipped with the rest of the household goods to Long Beach, California by way of the Panama Canal, then by truck to East Palo Alto,” she said.

“When it was being prepared for shipment my dad could not get the top off, so he cut it with a hacksaw. When it arrived here a gardener found nothing better to do than break it up – thinking it was junk. I had a fit – retrieved it from his truck,” she said.

Eventually she found a blacksmith to repair the top, got an electrician to put it up and at some cost, restored it to its former glory.

“I painted the main part black and touched up the ‘twiddly bits’ with gold.

“It has been much admired. A part of the old country – in the new,” said Marguerite.

“I’m thrilled to bits,” said Cllr Bulteel. “Considering it’s been sawn up and thrown in a skip, it looks in good condition.

“A lot of people bought these. They could be anywhere in the world.”

And he would love to hear of others in faraway places.

Similar lamps, the originals of which were converted from gas to electricity, can still be seen in the old town and are much coveted.

The council has run out of supplies but keeps a register of people interested in buying if one comes on the market. The last one sold for £1,100.