A head with hair of snakes will be seen all over Oxford thanks to one schoolboy.
A creation of the Medusa character has been made out of wicker after eight-year-old Thomas Lydford-Brace won a design competition.
The Wicker Man competition was organised by Dan Barton and Alan Hambridge, who wanted to create a sculpture for everyone in the city to enjoy. The Medusa head will now be transported all over Oxford to appear at festivals and events before being burnt at the city’s huge fireworks display and bonfire night in November in South Park.
The first stop for the wicker sculpture was the top of the Malmaison Hotel, so it could watch over the Flower and Gardening Festival at Oxford Castle. The huge 42ft creation had to be winched up onto the roof by crane.
Mr Barton and Mr Hambridge invited children to come up with mythical designs, and picked eight-year-old-Thomas’ drawings from hundreds of entries. Thomas is a pupil at Chandlings School in Bagley Wood.
Mr Barton, who restores historic buildings, said: “The idea is that as many people as possible can see it and be inspired by it, and this year we estimate that more than 600 people have already been involved in some way in its creation, and around 2,500 will have done so by November.
“We would really like it to take off so there was a wicker man for each region around the country.”
The money raised by the Wicker Man project will go towards the Oxford Maggie’s Cancer Caring centre.