Willy Wonka characters brought to life in wool

Lynn Clegg's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory crochet masterpiece, created for World Book DayImage source, PA
Image caption,

Lynn Clegg's topper took about a month to create

  • Published

A retired supermarket worker has brought a series of Roald Dahl characters to life in yarn to mark World Book Day.

Lynn Clegg, from Wakefield, has crocheted a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory post box topper.

The 66-year-old said she spent around four weeks creating the piece, which includes characters Charlie Bucket, Willy Wonka and an Oompa Loompa.

It comes as book lovers all over the UK celebrate their favourite fictional characters on Thursday.

"Everybody seems to love the Oompa Loompa one," Mrs Clegg said.

"I try and get them as close to the characters as I can, but the facial features are always the hardest."

Mrs Clegg, who used to work for Asda before retiring, said she enjoyed making all the characters apart from Violet Beauregarde.

Violet is one of the five children who win a precious golden ticket to tour Willy Wonka's chocolate factory.

In the book, she turns into a giant blueberry after ignoring warnings about chewing gum.

"I put some dark hair on her and it looked horrible, so I pulled all her hair off and put some more hair on," Mrs Clegg added.

An immersive Wonka experience in Glasgow has recently made headlines, with parents demanding refunds after reportedly turning up to find "an abandoned, empty warehouse".

Mrs Clegg said that after posting her topper in her village's online forum, one person commented it was "certainly better than the one in Glasgow".

World Book Day is marked across the UK on Thursday, with schoolchildren typically dressing up as their favourite fictional character.

The event is celebrated on 23 April elsewhere in the world.

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