ExSTRAWminate! Ice cream shop owners create huge Dalek sculpture in field

The Doctor's greatest enemy has appeared near A51 in rural Cheshire

Staff at Snugburys ice cream shop create a giant straw sculpture every year



Towering over rural Cheshire, passing motorists could be forgiven for screaming for help from the Doctor.

A huge 35ft Dalek has appeared in a field next to the A51, seemingly intent on world domination.

But even though its fearsome plunger looks set to exterminate, the people of Nantwich can sleep soundly in their beds instead of hiding behind the sofa.



A Dalek made out of straw is dominating fields in rural Cheshire, if not taking over the world as the greatest enemy in Doctor Who may like to do

Staff at Snugburys ice cream shop near Nantwich create a large straw sculpture every year and chose to mark the show's 50th anniversary for 2013's offering

The cyborg is made out of six tons of straw and five tons of steel and is the latest offering from staff at a nearby ice cream parlour.

Each year, the team at Snugburys Ice Cream Farm, Hurleston, celebrates the summer with a new straw sculpture which is usually related to something newsworthy at the time.

This year, they're marking the 50th anniversary of BBC favourite Doctor Who - and the most-feared of the Doctor's many enemies will even come to life and move, awakening childhood memories for many.



The series itself will mark the occasion with a special edition of the show in November before the Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith leaves the programme at the end of the year.

Celebrations have already begun in Cheshire, where the sculpture is expected to draw in visitors until the end of the year and will even be decorated for Christmas.



Some of the company's Facebook fans speculated that this year's creation would mark the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's child, Prince George.

But devoted Whovians had other ideas.



Hannah Sadler of Snugburys said: 'We were absolutely inundated with Doctor Who suggestions from customers coming into the shop and emailing and writing on Facebook.



It has taken two days to get the Dalek to its full height, with straw stuffed into a steel structure before being moved into place by a crane

The body of the Dalek takes shape, helped by a team of 13 to get it to its full 35ft height

'We just thought: a Dalek in that field would look amazing.'



The annual event started in 1998 when staff built a huge Millennium Dome sculpture from hay.

Since then, they've taken on the London Eye, Big Ben, the Angel of the North and the Lovell telescope at the nearby Jodrell Bank observatory, among others.

Last year they celebrated last year's Olympics and Paralympics games with a cyclist racing around a straw velodrome.

This year, engineer Mike Harper, 54, decided to go one better than previous years and animate the giant model.

He designed the sculpture with Snugburys director Chris Sadler, 60, and then worked out how to make it bit more like its television counterpart.



The head of the Dalek, seen being lifted into place, will move around once the sculpture and its electronics are completed today

The eye of the Dalek will light up and possibly scare a few Whovians who come to see the 35ft sculpture for themselves

Thanks to Mr Harper, the Dalek's eye will light up and its head and plunger will move.

The familiar cry of 'exterminate!' will also ring out across the fields.

Snugburys will also sell a Da-lick ice cream cone in the parlour to raise money for charity.

A percentage of the cone's sales will be donated to Cancer Research UK to support a member of the dairy's staff whose father is undergoing cancer treatment.



In 2004, the Snugburys team created their own Angel of the North out of straw - and even gave it a cone

The following year, the London Eye relocated to Cheshire for the summer, becoming a straw North West Eye

In 2009, Big Ben spent the parliamentary summer break as 'Steve Ben', which at 70ft was a quarter of the size of the real thing