Simon carves out name for himself as Halloween pumpkin master

He creates his intricate, lifelike characters with just a few simple tools and says it's a skill anyone can learn. He should know, he taught himself.

All you need is a plump pumpkin, clay moulding tools and a few hours to spare.

The 37-year-old said: "I taught myself so I don't see why other people couldn't do it as well. It takes a lot of practice though and hours of dedication and of course you need to be fairly creative."

Most of us settle for carving two eyes, a nose and mouth from a pumpkin at Halloween but not Mr Patel.

He spends hours meticulously moulding and shaping pumpkins into terrifying monsters, zombies and ghosts. And this year is no different.

Armed with his tools, he has been hard at work creating more of his masterpieces.

He said: "This year I decided to carve out a Mr Bean and Robert De Niro pumpkin. It took me about three hours to do each one. I just looked them up on the internet.

"I use clay moulding tools. I take the outside off and then start scooping out the inside.

"The eyes and nose are always the hard parts. It's difficult to get the depth of the nose right. I look at a picture of the person I am carving while I do it."

Mr Patel was inspired to start carving by American artist and sculptor Ray Villafane after seeing some of his designs on the internet.

Villafane specialises in sculpting and is most famously known for his 3D-style pumpkin carvings. He also sculpts action figures and collectibles, sand and snow.

To celebrate his son Dylan's first birthday, Mr Patel decided to carve him a pumpkin as a special treat.

He continued: "It was terrible. All my friends and family loved it though. It was just a face, not too scary, I didn't want to frighten him.

"I didn't use the right tools. I just used cutlery from the kitchen like spoons, forks and knives.

"I've probably carved 100 pumpkins in seven years. My favourite was a zombie. It had some skin peeling from its face. People thought it had glass eyes but they were just carved out."

Previously Mr Patel displayed his pumpkins at his home in Primley Avenue, Alumwell but last year yobs vandalised some of his special sculptures so this year they won't be making an appearance.

People usually crowd around his house to take pictures and in the past cars driving by have even stopped and reversed to see them.

But he did display some of them at a fair held at Essington Fruit Farm at the weekend, raffling them off to raise money for Cancer Research UK. He gets all of his pumpkins from the farm in Bognop Road.

He added: "I get a lot of business through my Facebook page. People message me with the carving they want and I do it for them.

"A nightclub in London has ordered six for a special party. They won't tell me who the party is for only that pictures from the night are likely to be in magazines afterwards. It must be someone famous.

"I can't wait to find out who it is."

Mr Patel said his younger son Dev, five and his wife Sharna, 38, a secretary, as well as Dylan who is now aged seven were always impressed by his latest carvings.

The father-of-two has also given some of his carvings to local schools.

The expert carver has given two of his creations to Alumwell Infant and Nursery schools.

Over the years he has also carved out pirates, wizards and monsters and only recently he has branched out and is now carving faces in wood.

He said: "Five months ago I started carving wood. Instead of clay moulding tools I have to use chisels and a dremel. I've so far carved out Jesus and a Predator. It takes a lot longer working with wood than it does with pumpkins.

"It takes me days rather than hours to finish them off."