A 7ft-long half-ton carp carved from solid oak is set to welcome anglers to a fishery.

The incredible sculpture took a week to fashion from English timber and is the work of woodcarver Karl Barker.

It was commissioned by Rich Paull who runs the Fishermen’s Retreat carp venue in France.

Rich has nicknamed it ‘the Carp Deity’ and told Carpfeed it is based on a real fish.

He said: “To add to the ‘wow factor’ of Fishermen’s Retreat I wanted to finish it off with a special welcome piece.

“There’s been a favourite fish of mine, named Crosby, which has been elusive over the years.

“He disappeared for two years and we were thinking the worst, but when he appeared the relief was incredible. The Carp Deity was based on Crosby.”

Woodcarver Karl told Carpfeed: “This piece took about a week to carve as details needed to be discussed with the client regarding specific features as the carving progressed.

“The main body is one solid piece of English oak, and the oak fins have been attached.

“Most of my work is commissioned and this is no exception. I’m not an angler myself, but it has been fantastic to work on such an unusual form.”

Rich, who opened Fishermen’s Retreat in 2016 and recently undertook desilting work, added: “I communicated with Karl step by step to achieve the amazing piece, tweaking the carving here and there until we were both happy with the end product.

“The finished result is far better than anything Karl or I could’ve ever imagined.”

He added: “The reaction so far from anyone who has been in the presence of the Deity is that it’s breathtaking – the detail and craftsmanship that has gone into it is a true credit to Karl.”