'Lightning' tree turned into art

The children decided they wanted the stump carved into two rooks

A 150-year-old pine tree which was reduced to a 12ft trunk after it was hit by lightning has been transformed into a sculpture.

The tree, which stands outside the main building of Rookesbury Park Prep School in Wickham, Hampshire, was hit in a thunder storm last June.

It was set to be pulled down after part of it fell into a nearby field.

But pupils hoping to save it asked chainsaw carver Andy Barton to turn it into two rooks - the school's emblem.

Mr Barton admitted he was intimidated when the school sent him a picture of the tree.

The school was dwarfed by the tree before the storm

He said: "It was so big, I thought what have I done, I've bitten off more than I can chew."

Headmaster Paddy Savage said: "When it was established that the tree would have to be pulled down, it seemed that an old friend of the Rookesbury Park was going to be lost forever.

"However some quick thinking minds have seen to it that the tree will be retained albeit in a different form."