Row over giant rubber duck heading to Toronto

A row has erupted over the 'world's largest rubber duck' as it makes its way to Toronto, Canada.

The duck has been booked for the Toronto waterfront festival as part of the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of Ontario.

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However, the studio of the Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman sent an email to reporters saying that the duck is a counterfeit of its work.

But the company behind the 49ft 3in attraction said the studio's complaints are "factually and legally incorrect", reports The Star.

The World's Largest Rubber Duck is patented and trademarked so it can be shown at festivals around the world, says co-owner Ryan Whaley.

He said the company paid Hofman $50,000 in 2014 for technical plans, but said he received sketches, so the company designed and built its own duck.

The paper adds that Whaley has the rights to call his duck the 'world's largest' but that there's nothing stopping anyone else from making their own version. He added that there has not been a legal fight with the artist.

The duck will appear at Redpath Waterfront Festival on 1 July, before travelling across the province as part of the Ontario 150 tour.

Not everyone his pleased about the amount of money being spent on bringing the duck as an attraction.

According to the BBC, Ontario's Progressive Conservative leaders slammed funding for the attraction as "an absolute cluster duck".

However, Ontario's Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport Eleanor McMahon said the duck was "fun and sort of quirky".