A SCHEME to build a giant sausage to rival the Angel of the North on the A1(M) is not a joke and plans for its construction will be submitted, the company behind it has confirmed.

Food firm Heck Sausages used April Fools Day to announce it hoped to build the so-called "Sausage of the North" near Bedale, North Yorkshire.

The sculpture, which would be as tall as Big Ben, could rise 60m above the former pig farm at Kirklington.

But on social media, plans for the sculpture were met sceptism with many believing it was a hoax.

However, following "overwhelming" feedback, Heck says it will submit plans to Hambleton District Council for its construction in coming years.

Jamie Keeble, co-founder at Heck, said: "Everyone was convinced it was an April Fool - I can confirm that we are definitely going ahead.

"As we are a democracy at Heck, we ran an online poll to see if our fans thought we should do it, and we definitely got the thumbs up.

"What better way to celebrate Yorkshire Food than with a giant sausage."

The plans for the sculpture follow the firm's hopes to build an attraction called 'Sausage World.'

Mr Keeble said: "We were turned down for EU grant funding for our Sausage World because of Brexit, but we said What the Heck, let’s go for it anyway as we don’t want to disappoint our army of sausage fans.

"We’re now looking at different ways to make Sausage World happen. We are applying for Arts Council funding for ‘Sausage of the North’ as we think it will really add to the cultural heritage of the area.

"We’ve taken some inspiration from the London Orbit and we’re hoping Sir Anish Kapoor might be interested in helping us with the project.”