
A Lego-obsessed couple spent six weeks and used a staggering 400,000 bricks to create a stunning Alpine ski scene complete with working lifts, trains and lights in time for Christmas.

Every year Mike Addis, 61, and his wife Catherine Weightman, 56, of Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, carefully construct a Christmas-themed Lego creation to celebrate the festive season.

But this year - to mark the 25th anniversary of their first ever Christmas-themed creation - they decided to make take on their biggest project yet.

The result is a stunning eight foot tall by eight foot wide snow-covered Alpine ski resort which takes up half of their living room.

Mike Addis, 61, and his wife Catherine Weightman, 56, of Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, spent six weeks and used a staggering 400,000 bricks to create this stunning Alpine ski scene (the couple are pictured together)

The ski scene comes complete with working lifts, trains and lights. The complete project is a stunning eight-foot tall by eight-foot wide snow-covered Alpine ski resort which takes up half of their living room

The massive sculpture also includes elves, a reindeer and sleigh, and lots of working street lights. An onion dome on top of the church was one of the hardest pieces to find, the couple said

The incredible structure includes a German medieval town, various holiday chalets, Santa's house and workshop, and a working train (pictured) that delivers right to Santa's workshop

The couple, from Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, who have been collecting Legos for over 50 years, decided to do something extra special to mark their 25th year anniversary of building their huge Christmas themed projects (pictured, their alpine ski resort)

Mr Addis, a retired school teacher, said: 'The is definitely the biggest project so far, we've never had one both tall and wide.

'It's a mixture of a Swiss Mountain resort, a German Christmas market, and Father Christmas' workshop. It's not necessarily the most complex one we've made but it's definitely the biggest.'

Mr Addis added: 'It takes up half the living room, which is the limit of the room really because of the settee.

'We take out other bits of furniture to make space, but the settee we can't move because it's a constant piece and so that dictates how big we can go.'

The incredible structure includes a German medieval town, various holiday chalets, Santa's house and workshop, and a working train that delivers right to Santa's workshop.

It also includes elves, a reindeer and sleigh, and lots of working street lights.

'Each time you look at it you notice something new,' said Mr Addis. He added: 'My favourite bit I think is the church - it worked really well. The town centre is also a firm favourite.

'It's hard to say exactly how many hours a day we've spent on it because some days I'll spend eight or ten hours, while other days I won't touch it at all.

'I'd say on average around four hours per day is fair.'

It's a mixture of a Swiss Mountain resort, a German Christmas market, and Father Christmas' workshop. 'It's not necessarily the most complex one we've made but it's definitely the biggest,' Mr Addis explained

Speaking of how they create their masterpieces, Mr Addis revealed the couple don't use any instructions but prefer to 'free-build' instead (pictured, Mr Addis with his gigantic Lego creation)

The couple have gone into intricate detail, even including some ice climbers among their design (left). Every year the couple begin construction on Mr Addis' birthday and host a party to kick-start it off (right, the finished product)

Mike Addis, 61, and his wife Catherine Weightman, 56, spent six weeks carefully constructing the incredible eight-foot tall and eight-foot wide snow-covered ski resort, made out of assortment of different Legos from the couples own private collection

Previous festive Lego projects have included, a life-size polar bear that was 8ft (2.5m) tall, Durham Cathedral, a ginger-bread house, choir boys, Father Christmas, and even their own house.

Mr Addis said: 'The models are enjoyable but also take a lot of patience and can be quite frustrating sometimes.

'On one occasion during this build I tripped and smashed one the supports so we had to start that all over again.

'But the beauty of Lego is that it it can be rebuilt, even if it can be annoying at times.'

Speaking of how they create their masterpieces, Mr Addis revealed the couple don't use any instructions but prefer to 'free-build' instead.

He said: 'We always free-build, we never have any instructions. We like to figure it out ourselves.

'Normally we would build from the bottom up but this time we had to do it the other way round and start building from the back forwards. Even the structure behind, which is hidden, was free-built.'

Every year the couple begin construction on Mr Addis' birthday and host a party to kick-start it off.

He said: 'On October 13th, we have a birthday party and people come round to help us start it off. We always start constructing our projects on my birthday, and we aim to finish it by December 1st.

'However because this year I'm retired, we finished a little bit earlier on November 25th.'

2015: Mike Addis and his wife Catherine Weightman with their Lego Christmas cake 2015. They also had a slightly more edible version that year

2014: Mike Addis putting the final bricks on his Lego Durham Cathedral in 2014. While the couple kick-start each construction with a party, it's only right they should begin the dismantling process with one to. So the couple throw a bash to celebrate the end

2012: Catherine Weightman and Mike Addis with son Chris 14 an their giant Lego olympic mascot Wenlock. They made it in 2012 to celebrate the Olympics

2011 and 2009: Left, Holly Addis and her brothers Christopher Addis and Tom Addis with their Christmas 2009 Lego Victorian Postbox. Right, the couple created a Lego Dalek in 2011

2010: Christopher Addis with the giant Christmas stock the couple made that year. They also decorated it with a number of Lego Christmas presents

2006 and 2004: Right, Thomas Addis aged 13 , Christopher Addis aged 7 and Holly Addis aged 10 with the lego replica of their home in Christmas 2004. Left, Catherine Weightman with their 2006 Lego angel

2005: Tom Addis (left) with his brother Christopher Addis and sister Holly Addis with their lego Nutcracker 2005. Right, one year the couple made a gigantic Christmas stocking

Unsure of how many Lego pieces were used exactly, Mr Addis estimates the number is around 400,000, all of which they store in their cellar.

He said: 'It's difficult to work out how many Lego bricks we used exactly, but I'd guess around 400,000, and around 500 mini-figurines: about 100 elves and 400 people.

'Most of the pieces we have to hand but some can be awkward. For example the onion dome on top of the church.

'We've collected Legos for over 50 years, and some are from my wife's collection too. Being a teacher people also like to gift us some Legos too, so we've amassed quite a large collection.

'We also have a cellar so we store them all down there and organise them by colour and size.'

This year was extra special for the couple as not only was it their 25th anniversary of building their Christmas Lego projects, but this year their daughter, Holly Addis, who resides in Wales, was able to help them too.

Mr Addis said: 'My daughter helped us for the first time in years becasue she was here, so that was special.'

When asked if the couple have already decided on next year's project idea, Mr Addis declared there's a process.

He said: 'People always ask us if we've decided on what we're doing for next year, and the kids often used to try use it to distract me in class, but while we have ideas, we find that come a year later we've changed our minds.

'The best time for us to make a decision is when we're coming back form holiday because the journey is often long and boring and so it's a good time for us hammer out ideas.'

2000: Holly Addis (right) and her brothers Christopher Addis and Tom Addis with their Christmas Lego house

1999: Thomas Addis aged eight, Christopher Addis aged two and Holly Addis aged five with a Lego recreation of the three kings for Christmas

1996: The couple made a Santa sleigh. Previous festive Lego projects have included, a life-size polar bear that was 8ft (2.5m) tall, Durham Cathedral, a ginger-bread house, choir boys, Father Christmas, and even their own house

1995: Thomas Addis aged four and Holly Addis aged one with the Lego snowman in Christmas 1995

1995: The couple started out with just a small snowman, but their creations have quickly become larger and larger over the years

While the couple kick-start each construction with a party, it's only right they should begin the dismantling process with one too.

'We'll have a break-down party where we invite our friends over to help us and we try to do that as close to the 6th of January as possible,' said Mr Addis.

'I'd say it takes us about two to three weeks to dismantle each project,' he added.

The couple will also be hosting a drop-in session for family and friends on December 21st, for people to marvel at their amazing talent.

Mr Addis said: 'People come from far and wide. People have come to know me as the "Lego man".'

Thanks to his reputation the couple have even built Lego displays for other organisations, but say Lego aren't too bothered by their displays.

Mr Addis said: 'We've gotten involved in building models for other people including museums, and we've done shop displays for charity shops.

'I think we had a letter from Lego once, but it was very generic and unimpressive.'