Sussex chocolate sculptor makes life-sized Willy Wonka figure

More than 90 litres of melted chocolate was used to make the sculpture, the equivalent of over 1,000 chocolate bars

A chocolate sculptor has created a life-size figure of Timothée Chalamet as Willy Wonka.

Jen Lindsey-Clark, from Worthing, West Sussex, said crafting the sculpture was "a real honour and labour of love".

It took more than five weeks to craft the sculpture, which stands at 6ft 2in tall and was made entirely from 100kg of Belgian chocolate.

The figure was unveiled in Trafalgar Square ahead of the release of Wonka, which opened in cinemas on Friday.

The new film tells the origin story of Roald Dahl's famous chocolate factory owner.

Ms Lindsey-Clark said her love of chocolate started when she made mud pies in her garden from about the age of three, trying to "make them look as delicious as possible" so her family would eat them.

Now, she makes sculptures from real chocolate, having previously crafted the likenesses of Benedict Cumberbatch and King Charles III for the coronation, amongst others.

As she repaired chocolate cobble stones on the Wonka sculpture at her workshop, Ms Lindsey-Clark told BBC South East that there was "a lot of science involved, a lot of planning and patience" required to make her confectionery creations.

More than 200 hours were spent making the chocolate sculpture

The subject of the sculpture is made in clay first, then sculpted over in chocolate and can be particularly tricky to move.

It was well worth the work, Ms Lindsey-Clark explained, as the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was her favourite film.

"From the minute I saw it, I had to watch it at least three times a year. It's just the most magical, beautiful movie," she said.

Having got the call to make a sculpture of the character, Ms Lindsey-Clark said she "could probably just hang up my chocolate hat right now. Be happy forever."

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