Tat's all folks: the North East's most bizarre and brilliant tattoos

The North East is home to some wonderfully weird body art.

This weekend, we’ve spoken to Paul Allen, who, inked from head to toe, is probably the most tattooed man in the region.

But while there aren’t many tattoo fans who can compete with Paul for quantity, there are plenty who can show off some impressive, unusual, and sometimes downright odd, ink.

Here, we take a look back at some of the best - and the most bizarre.

With ink covering the side of her skull, and much of her arms and thighs, tattoo artist Emily Charles, from Hartlepool, uses her own skin as a canvas to practice her skills.

The elaborate art is combined with facial piercings, ear stretchers and coloured contacts for an unusual look, which saw her reach the final of Newcastle’s alternative modelling competition, back in 2015.

And who could forget cheeky boyfriend Chris Condliffe, who proposed to the future Mrs Condliffe with a rather special “will you marry me” tattoo - on his bum.

Girlfriend Sophie Robinson said: “When he dropped his pants to show his bum I just thought he was being a bit crazy, because that’s the sort of thing he does.

“I had to be prompted to look at his bum. I couldn’t quite believe it and I didn’t know if it was a real tattoo or not.”

(She also said ‘yes’, of course.)

When the full extent of her ink was revealed back in 2013, Heaton pop princess Cheryl’s intricate rose tattoo divided opinion.

Apparently taking more than 15 hours to create, the tattoo covers all the way from her thighs to half way up her back. So while she certainly can’t compete with Paul in terms of amount of skin covered, Cheryl is certainly heading in that direction.

The extensive rose tattoo actually covered up a few previous pieces of art work, including cartoon character Tweety Pie, who once resided on her behind.

It always seems to come back to bums, doesn’t it?

Perhaps that’s the safest place to get a slightly more unusual tat.

Anyway, they don’t really come more unusual than that chosen by dad-of-four Lee Crane, from Newcastle.

The Ant and Dec superfan famously had the faces of the Geordie presenting duo inked onto his backside - romantically sharing a bowl of spaghetti.

Back in February, he was even lucky enough to meet his idols, and they posed, ah, cheek to cheek, with their portraits.