DAN Barton has such a burning desire to raise funds for a cancer charity that he has been camping next to his creation – a 42ft-tall wicker man overlooking the M40.

The building restorer placed the ferocious-looking structure in a field close to Aston Rowant Nature Reserve, where it will remain until Sunday.

And drivers approaching the Stokenchurch cutting, inset, have been getting a good view of the wooden sculpture waving on the horizon. The wicker man will be burnt at Oxford Round Table’s bonfire display in South Park, on November 5.

Funds are being raised for a new Maggie’s cancer centre at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford.

This is the fourth year that a sculpture has been donated to the fireworks display for burning.

Mr Barton, from Witney, said: “We wanted to find a location where the wicker man would be seen by as many people as possible, and we found this great position in a field overlooking the M40.

“Thousands of drivers must have gone past this week and wondered what he is doing there.

“I have been camping near the wicker man to make sure he is OK.”

It took Mr Barton and a team of volunteers five weeks to build the wicker man earlier this year.

For further details, visit wickermanoxford.co.uk.