Ice cream store's giant straw Paddington Bear towers over Cheshire

Staff at Snugburys ice cream shop in Nantwich, Cheshire has a new 'employee' - a giant 45-foot-tall straw statue of Paddington Bear.

Weighing in at an impressive 5 tonnes, he is made from straw, larch shingles and a metal frame.

The very impressive frame work is made by the incredibly talented Mike Harper from Harbrook Engineering. The Snugburys team have been busy straw stuffing and Sarah from Twigtwisters has done some fabulous willow weaving including the hat and suitcase.

It has taken over 1500 hours of work from welding, straw stuffing, willow weaving, painting, and cladding, and it has been a true labour of love - and the cause of many sleepless nights!.

The idea was born when the three sisters who run Snugburys ice cream were watching the Queens Platinum Jubilee where Padding shared tea with the queen. It was so good Hannah, Kitty & Cleo thought they would try and replicate their own Paddington using straw.

The creation of the giant Paddington will help Snugburys' raise funds for their chosen charity, the MPS charity. Very sadly their family friend's little boy Freddie was diagnosed with this cruel rare disease called MPS (Mucopolysaccharidosis) syndrome also known as childhood dementia.

Snugburys director Kitty Hill states: "It's a true labour of love making our straw sculptures, we have been making them for over 20 years and every time we try and pick something that we hope our customers and the general public will enjoy. We think Paddington is such a wonderful characterful little bear. We really hope we can raise as much as we can for the MPS society with our straw Bear."

Snugburys gets over 400,000 customers to their ice cream farm every year and make over 20 different flavours of ice cream using fresh British cream and handmade ingredients made on site. The family business has been running for over 35 years and has become an institution for ice cream in Cheshire. The business is run by sisters Hannah Goodwin, Kitty Hill, and Cleo Spencer.