JUST as the saga of the bear in Llanwrtyd Wells has begun to die down, a new life-size statue of a grizzly bear has emerged – outside a business in Llandrindod Wells.

The 12 foot tall wooden bear, which weighs around two tonnes, is on show outside Tom’s Mowers & Garden Supplies at Werngoch Farm.

Chainsaw sculptor Harry Thomas and his son Danny had the idea to carve the bear at Wood Fest Wales 2016 – a festival which revolves around activities involving wood, such as wood carving. The father and son, who run a family chainsaw sculpting business called Thomas Carving, thought it would be a great idea to create a life-size version of a bear.

Harry said: “I had the idea along with Danny to create a life-size bear statue, and so we looked online and found that most grizzly bears grow to about 14ft tall. Twelve foot was the closest we could get to that, and as it was we had to stick two logs of redwood together.”

It took the two timber artists, who run their business from a workshop in Kinnerton, a week to complete the statue using a mix of normal chainsaws and chainsaws with “specialist bar attachments”. Harry, who sculpts a variety of statues of all sizes of everything from birds of prey to elephants and bears in the village near Presteigne, said they enjoyed the great community they found at Wood Fest Wales.

He said the festival is a good place to source wood and around 20 expert carvers gather over the weekend.

Harry, who previously worked as a tree surgeon, started carving around 27 years ago when he worked as a timber feller. He and Danny started working together around 15 years ago.

The pair of sculptors, who receive regular commissions for their work, were featured at APF – the UK’s largest forest, woodland and arboricultural exhibition – in 2016.

Harry came first and Danny second at the 2016 European Championship and Danny came first in the English Open Championship in 2016.

Harry said: “I started when I was working at the forestry in 1992 and I just started messing around a bit with the chainsaws”.

Harry had previously been a painter, although he hasn’t done much since leaving school.

Unlike the statue in Llanwrtyd Wells, the bear in Llandrindod Wells is based away from the roadside and directly outside the lawnmower store, which sponsors Harry and Danny’s sculpting business with Echo Saw – a type of professional chainsaw.

The 10ft bear in Llanwrtyd was recently moved from its original home outside the Cambrian Woollen Mill to a safe location away from the road.

The bear, which was cut down from the mill entrance, has been the centre of discussion among politicians and residents since its removal was ordered by the Welsh Government around two weeks ago after it allegedly caused a woman to crash her car.

A Welsh Government spokeswoman said last week: “Happily we are the bearer of good news. We have reached an agreement with the owner of the bear and associated items on the grass verge that will see them re-homed to an area of land where they are still visible but do not present a hazard to passing motorists.

“Our agents were satisfied with the decision, and offered to assist the owner by moving the bear to its new position.”