A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD’S sketch has been turned into a 26ft ‘Ice Princess’ which will be the star of Oxford’s biggest bonfire night.

Joshua Webb’s design won a competition to be made by Dan Barton, the Oxfordshire artist responsible for the giant burning wicker man at last year’s South Park display.

The oak and steel-framed creation, which is weighed down by more than a tonne of sand and took 376 man-hours to build in a three-week period, will go up in a blaze of glory at the Oxford Round Table event on Saturday, November 7.

Joshua’s mother Lyndsey said: “I found out about the competition on the Internet and Joshua had already drawn a picture at school. I asked him if he wanted to draw another one, but he chose to stick with it.

“Having seen it finished, it looks beautiful. He was very excited and we were all shocked at the size and detail of it.”

The Webbs, from Wallingford, have been assured front-row seats at the display, which last year attracted 16,000 people, but a pre-booked family holiday to Disneyland Paris the same weekend threatened to disrupt the plans.

Mrs Webb said: “We’ve had to cancel it. I left it up to Joshua and he said he would much rather go to the fireworks display, and it’s actually much better because not all the family could go to Disneyland.”

Fir Tree Junior School pupil Joshua said: “It looks really good. I’m very excited.”

Mr Barton, who built the structure with the aid of friends Helen Harding, Sean Higgins and Paul Wentworth, said: “We are very pleased with it. I thought last year’s one was impressive, but to be honest this is more impressive.

“I looked at Joshua’s drawing and just knew right away that it was the right one. There’s so much going on in the design that it made it interesting. I hadn’t considered a feminine figure, but I think it looks great.

“It was a hell of a challenge, finishing at 1am most nights. I lost a stone in weight in 20 days.”

Mr Barton, of Fyfield Wick, near Abingdon, said a secret design would be revealed once the outer shell of the sculpture had burned away, in a spectacle he hoped would become an annual tradition in Oxford.

He added: “Scotland’s got its wicker man festival, and I think Oxford could do something similar. We are also currently looking for somewhere in the county to publically display the Ice Princess so people can see it before it is set alight.”

Jason Priest, of Oxford Round Table, said: “Being a charity we welcome any exposure and this is massive for us.

“We’re still looking for donations of pallets for the main fire this year.”

If you can help with pallets, or could offer a site where the Ice Princess can be put on public display before November 7, contact Jason Priest on 07989 438553 or visit wickermanoxford.co.uk