Dozens of shoppers helped bring a polar bear to Croydon town centre on Saturday – although there was no danger of anyone being bitten by the icy beast.

Members of the public spent four hours creating the bear with the help of professionals from Hamilton Ice Sculptures to raise awareness of climate change.

Sculptor Jack Hackney said: “There were a good 30 people or so having a go, and the majority were children.

“It went really well, nobody broke the head off by mistake or anything.”

Sadly the sculpture had to be removed after it was completed, but polar bear lovers can head to Trafalgar Square on December 11 to see another huge project being created.

The sister project will see sculptors carve a giant polar bear from a 10 tonne block of ice, which will melt over the course of 10 days to reveal a bronze skeleton.

More information is available from icebearproject.org.

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