Life-sized sculptures crafted in the Midlands are taking a starring role in a new open-air exhibition in London.

Angel of the North artist Anthony Gormley has placed 31 human figures, based on himself, across the capital.

But he could not have achieved the arty feat without the help of Hill Top foundry Joseph & Jesse Siddons, in West Bromwich. Workers at the foundry were given the task of turning out the figures for the project.

Last year the firm created 100 of the cast iron sculptures for Mr Gormley which were taken to Italy to line a beach.

The statues sent to Italy were for a reproduction of the artist’s Another Place installation which stands at Crosby beach in Liverpool and features dozens of iron men lining the landscape, also created by the same firm.

For his latest work, which is called Event Horizon, Mr Gormley returned to the foundry to ask them to make more of the iconic sculptures.

Staff at J & J Siddons have also been filmed by a Channel 4 film crew, which is making a documentary about the work of Mr Gormley. Company director Andrew Siddons said the figures had been painstakingly created by specialist workers.

“Anthony Gormley has very exacting standards and is very precise on what he wants, so working with him is challenging,” he said.

“We have worked with him for 10 years and look forward to working with him again in the future.”

Mr Siddons said making the works of art was a break from the norm for the firm.

“It creates a lot of enthusiasm in the company because we are making a big product which is going to be part of an exhibition and everyone gets to see,” he said.

The firm was picked to work with Mr Gormley because of its workers’ specialist skills.

“These are old crafting skills, it’s not the sort of thing you can do on a modern machine,” Mr Siddons added.

The sculptures have been placed in locations including Waterloo Bridge, the National Theatre and the Royal Festival Hall.

As well as his famous Angel of the North, in Gateshead, Mr Gormley is also responsible for the leaning Iron Man in Birmingham

The documentary featuring J & J Siddons is on Channel 4 on May 12.