A CHAINSAW wood sculptor has been hard at work near Marlow, creating a 12-foot tall woodland work of art from an old tree on the SAS UK estate.

Tim Atkins, an internationally recognised sculptor, has spent several days this week at the software company's headquarters on Henley Road, carving a "wildlife tree" with owls, squirrels and other creatures, even insects.

Mr Atkins, 35, from near Thetford, in Norfolk, said: "It has been a gruelling few days in the rain, but it is going well. And it is a beautiful area around here."

The artist was invited to create an on-site sculpture by SAS's estate manager David Clark.

Mr Clark, 63, met him on a visit to the English Open Chainsaw Competition at Sandringham in September.

Mr Clark said that instead of clearing away an old tree, he thought of inviting Mr Atkins to make a sculpture.

Mr Clark has worked on the 200-acre estate for 33 years, including 20 years when it was owned by the Salvation Army. He and another of his gardeners have recently become interested in wood sculptures.

He said: "When you put a chainsaw through a tree, that's a hundred years gone.

"Or you can get an artist in and make something for people to look at for another 20 years, if you look after it."