WE GET some weird and wonderful wildlife in Huntingdonshire – but none rarer than the lesser-spotted red and silver Coke can unicorn.

WE GET some weird and wonderful wildlife in Huntingdonshire – but none rarer than the lesser-spotted red and silver Coke can unicorn.

The 10ft-tall animal is the creation of art student Tom Hiscocks, who made the statue as part of his degree at Anglia Ruskin University and installed it in the garden of his home at the Old Vicarage in Great Staughton.

Inspired by a painting by George Stubbs, Tom, 46, spent nearly eight weeks collecting the cans, cutting them into thin strips and weaving them through the steel and chicken-wire frame – though how many he used remains a secret.

For as well as being a piece of art in its own right, the unicorn is raising money at the village’s church fete, with visitors invited to guess how many cans it took to build the sculpture.

Father-of-two Tom returned to university last year to begin a fine art degree, and was given a helping hand in his project by the St Neots branch of Tesco, which contributed empties to speed the project along.

And the prize for guessing how many Coke cans were used in making Tom’s unicorn? A hundred cans of Coca-Cola, of course.

INFORMATION: The church fete begins at the Old Vicarage, The Causeway, Great Staughton, at 2pm on Saturday, June 18.