Meet the Midlands own Gepetto

Eighty-year-old Ted Beresford is the Midlands answer to Geppetto as he still carves puppets by hand at his home.

Standing in the conservatory at his Albrighton house with a chisel in one hand, his full concentration is on carving the delicate feet of a ballet dancer puppet.

Ted is now vice-president of The British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild and he and his wife Kath won a number of awards for their popular hobby, including a lottery grant of nearly £100,000 in 1998.