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It's not something you read about every day – a giant dragon causing traffic chaos in Wales.

It sounds like something from a fantasy story - or the Mabinogion, possibly. However for motorists using the A5, near Tregarth, that's exactly what they're being confronted with.

In this case it's actually a dragon carved from a fallen tree which has become something of both an attraction and a hazard for passing motorists.

The dragon, which is known as Y Draig Dderw, (The Oak Dragon in Welsh), can be seen between the trees at the road side.

With an imposing 12-foot wingspan and baring rows of sharp wooden teeth it is quite the sight.

(Image: Simon O'Rourke/PA Wire)

"There has already been one accident and numerous near misses on this section of road which really does require a drivers full concentration," said North Wales Police in a statement posted to their Bangor and Bethesda Facebook page, urging drivers to find somewhere safe to park if they want to view the sculpture.

The 25ft beast is the work of sculptor Simon O'Rourke, who spent nearly a week wielding a chainsaw to carve the dragon from a fallen oak branch at the request of the property owners.

Mr O'Rourke said he had been "completely overwhelmed" by the response to the sculpture whose creation he documented on Facebook.

Videos of the "Dragon of Bethesda", which he called it before its official naming, have been viewed thousands of times on his Facebook page.

Some online commentators compared it to the dragons of Skyrim, the award-winning fantasy computer game made by a developer coincidentally called Bethesda.

(Image: Daily Post Wales)

"It's bigger and in a more public way than some of the other things," said the 40-year-old who was born in Liverpool but now lives in Wrexham.

"The tree effectively fell in such a way that it was sticking out over the outcrop. I think it's one of those things where, with the positioning of it, there's no way it could have been moved as it's too heavy and too big."

(Image: Daily Post Wales)

The property owner, who did not respond to requests for comment, commissioned Mr O'Rourke to carve the huge branch into a dragon which was completed in mid-January.

Since then it has been causing quite a stir on the narrow country roads.

Asked about how much of a distraction to motorists the dragon was causing, Mr O'Rourke said: "You drive through somewhere like Birmingham and you've got huge screens and billboards that are actually trying to distract you and catch your attention.

"A wooden dragon is less intrusive than those screens but I think it's just the case that it doesn't matter what happens, when you're in control of the car you should be paying attention to the road."