Tour of Britain: Keyworth hedgehog on bike wins national art prize

A giant piece of artwork showing a hedgehog riding a bike has been crowned the winner of the Tour of Britain's land art competition.

"Spike on a bike" was created in a Nottinghamshire village that was recently named Britain's most hedgehog-friendly street.

Children helped to create the image ahead of the cycle race passing through Keyworth in September.

Tour director Mick Bennett said sharing their work "fills me with joy".

The plaque awarded to Dale Road

Dale Road was crowned winner of Britain's Biggest Hedgehog Street earlier this month by two wildlife charities.

The design was inspired by the village's hedgehog-friendly schemes, including a drive to create holes in garden fences to allow the vulnerable mammals to pass through people's gardens, known as a hedgehog highway.

Jennifer Manning-Ohren, founder of Wild Things Keyworth, which was behind the hedgehog highway, said: "It was a wonderful, shared experience and I am so happy to have been a part of it.

"We are really attached to Spike and we are hoping to get smaller versions in place around the village."

The image was captured on ITV4's live feed of the competition via a drone.

Artist Liz Waddell said: "It was such a thrill when the drone went up and we saw what we had created - just from a hasty sketch on an A4 piece of paper, found materials and no experience of this kind of thing before."

Mr Bennett said it had been a challenge to choose a winner from the many entries received.

He said: "It was fascinating to learn about community work involved in the Keyworth hedgehog highway and being able to share this cause with others fills me with joy."