Fish car parking 'plaice' worry
An artist is finding it hard to find a parking "plaice" for his silver car since converting it into a giant fish. Andy Hazell, from Knighton, Powys, has spent thousands turning his Vauxhall Corsa into an 18ft (5.5m) scale model of a sea bass.
Mr Hazell, 48, has also fitted a hydraulic system so the fish can swish its tail, raise its fins and open and close its mouth.
He said: "Some people do think I'm mad, but I love building strange things."
There are 320 fluorescent lights along the fish's streamlined aluminium body and 12-volt motors operate the moving parts.
But with it measuring 18ft from nose to tail, Mr Hazell admits he cannot fit it into conventional parking spaces very easily.
Slippery
He built it earlier this year for a parade through Blackpool for the switching on of the seaside's town illuminations.
He added: "I get lots of fishy looks but I have a whale of a time driving it - until I try to park. It's just too big and that's no fisherman's tale.
"It took me three weeks to build and has cost me a couple of thousand pounds.
"Designers these days make cars slippery and aerodynamic - so I thought a fish was the next step."
Mr Hazell's art can be seen in towns and cities throughout Britain.
Other unusual projects have included a life-size tractor made out of tin, and a tree made out of fish which stands at the Children's Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.
Mr Hazell said he had also built a orrery, a mechanical model of the solar system, for a BBC programme about composer Gustav Holst, who is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets.
He said the orrery later featured in an episode of the sci-fi drama Dr Who.
His next project is equally bizarre - a moped-powered donkey.
"I've been looking for parts for my donkey on eBay - it's just a bit of a laugh," said Mr Hazell.
An artist is finding it hard to find a parking "plaice" for his silver car since converting it into a giant fish. Andy Hazell, from Knighton, Powys, has spent thousands turning his Vauxhall Corsa into an 18ft (5.5m) scale model of a sea bass.
Mr Hazell, 48, has also fitted a hydraulic system so the fish can swish its tail, raise its fins and open and close its mouth.
He said: "Some people do think I'm mad, but I love building strange things."
There are 320 fluorescent lights along the fish's streamlined aluminium body and 12-volt motors operate the moving parts.
But with it measuring 18ft from nose to tail, Mr Hazell admits he cannot fit it into conventional parking spaces very easily.
Slippery
He built it earlier this year for a parade through Blackpool for the switching on of the seaside's town illuminations.
He added: "I get lots of fishy looks but I have a whale of a time driving it - until I try to park. It's just too big and that's no fisherman's tale.
"It took me three weeks to build and has cost me a couple of thousand pounds.
"Designers these days make cars slippery and aerodynamic - so I thought a fish was the next step."
Mr Hazell's art can be seen in towns and cities throughout Britain.
Other unusual projects have included a life-size tractor made out of tin, and a tree made out of fish which stands at the Children's Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.
Mr Hazell said he had also built a orrery, a mechanical model of the solar system, for a BBC programme about composer Gustav Holst, who is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets.
He said the orrery later featured in an episode of the sci-fi drama Dr Who.
His next project is equally bizarre - a moped-powered donkey.
"I've been looking for parts for my donkey on eBay - it's just a bit of a laugh," said Mr Hazell.
