Testing time for hot wax

Waxworks are having to be cooled with ice as temperatures soar.

Soaring temperatures are playing havoc with exhibitions at a tourist attraction.

As the majority of the country embraces the current heat wave, the weather is causing problems elsewhere.

Staff at Mountfitchet Castle at Stansted in Essex are having to pack their waxwork figures in ice.

A collection of 30 figures, which cost £1,000 each, need to be protected from the heat.

Staff are packing Baron Mountfitchet, his wife and his Norman knights in ice to ensure they are not damaged.

Castle owner Alan Goldsmith said the measure was necessary as the figures are hard to replace.

"It's not very authentic having a Norman knight with ice cubes on his head," he said.

"But we are hoping it will be just for today, the hottest day of the year.

"Tomorrow we will be back to normal temperatures and we will not have to go to these extreme measures."