Sculptor Ben Loughrill, who created the wooden wolf which sits on the Southgate roundabout, in Bury St Edmunds, has been busy giving the structure a brand new makeover.

East Anglian Daily Times: Sculptor Ben Loughrill with Melanie Lesser, Bury in Bloom co-ordonator, at the wolf sculpture, on the Southgate roundabout in Bury St Edmunds.Sculptor Ben Loughrill with Melanie Lesser, Bury in Bloom co-ordonator, at the wolf sculpture, on the Southgate roundabout in Bury St Edmunds. (Image: Jo Sweetman 2015)

He has been sanding it down ahead of this weekend’s celebrations to mark St Edmund’s Day.

The wolf has become a popular icon with the Bury St Edmunds Rugby Club tying a scarf on him for every home match and it was in need of a bright and sparkling new look.

So Bury in Bloom commissioned Ben to clean up the sculpture and Melanie Lesser, the co-ordinator of Bury in Bloom, said: “It looks wonderful now and so lovely and bright compared to the weathered look it previously had.”

A self-taught chainsaw sculptor Ben, who is based in Bungay, has been carving for 15 years and has carved and worked across the country, creating his own mark on the British landscape.

He said: “I spent about four-and-a-half hours in Bury sanding down the wolf and getting the grime off of it and I was getting drivers honking their horns at me and giving me the thumbs up which was nice.

“It’s certainly become iconic structure in the town and it will be okay now for another couple of years.”