At least he had chiseled features.

John Walker was a nobody in Stockton during his lifetime.

It was not until long after his death that they realised that — in 1826 — one of their own had come up with the concept of the strikeable matchstick.

With much ado, in 1966 John Walker was declared a local hero. A princely sum of 1400 pounds ($2800 dollars) was raised (largely from match manufacturers) and a bust of the suddenly great man ordered.

According local news site The Northern Echo, a local councillor last week bemoaned that this hero’s image was now “hidden” on the corner of a public walkway.

But the Stockton Borough Council head of culture, leisure and adult learning spilt the beans: “I can reveal that the bust of John Walker was inaccurately produced. It is the bust of another John Walker,” Mr Reuben Kench stated.

It appears the bust is of instead an actor, also named John Walker, who visited Stockton once before he died in 1807.

Well, probably.

Local scuttlebut casts some doubt on the doubt.

A poor-quality photo of the man was displayed during the centenary of the introduction of matchsticks in 1927. His great niece, Annie Maria Wilkinson, raised no objections.

She had apparently known her great uncle well.

The confusion comes after another attempt to commemmorte John Walker’s lucky strike turned into a damp squib: A plastc sculpture of a match was installed on a roundabout in 2001. It was met with public ridicule — and removed.

Now the council is attempting to get its facts straight, which includes where he actually lived.

Mr Walker never patented his invention. He hoped its free use would help the poor around the world.

But other unscrupulous companies simply patented his idea for themselves, and made a killing out of his work.