AN AMAZING wood carving from an uprooted tree on the beach near Fort Victoria has become an Isle of Wight tourist spot.

The carving has been made by David Wallace who has spent the summer living in his car and working on his project on the beach.

It features at least 60 marine animals and wildlife including a crocodile, seal, stingray, seagull, sole, shark, dolphin, sea horse, rag worm, lobster and octopus.

David, a self-taught carver who first started aged eight, said: "I'd noticed some fish had been carved into wooden railings at Chessell and I approached the rangers here and asked if I could do the same and it went on from there.

"There are various pieces of my work in and around the forest with squirrels in the Information Centre and there is also a carving of a rare bat found locally and a great crested newt on a big lump of oak.

"But this is my main project and it features all kinds of marine life which have lived in these waters both now, and millions of years ago.

"It is like an aquarium of sea creatures and is used by the rangers in their forest tours and it's also a history lesson for the children who come to look at it.

"The fishermen who use the beach are very fond of it because it is a memorial to one of their pals, Dave Slingsby, who passed away. He was known as 'Sole Dave' because of his favourite catch and there is a sole carved on the tree.

David, originally from Plymouth, has his work all over the West Country.

He added: "It is just an old tree which came down last year with some subsidence. Now, the locals would like it to be relocated to a safe place and are willing to provide the manpower to do it.

"If it was moved, then people with disabilities, who cannot walk along the beach, would then be able to see it, touch it and feel it.

"In the meantime, it is still a work in progress and I will continue to carve on it until the end of the summer."