A BIKE made of bales will greet visitors travelling to the Dales to watch the Tour de France this weekend.

The artwork - made of 115 hay bales - took farmer Simon Loadman an afternoon to create on his farm near Constable Burton, between Bedale and Leyburn, North Yorkshire.

He said: "We leave the bales out for a while to cool down and I had an idea to make them into a shape of a bike.

"I did a bit of research first as I wanted a simple line drawing design.

"Then I just did it by eye using the loader."

He added: "I'm not really into cycling, but the closer the event gets the more caught up in it you become."

Mr Loadman and his family run a small caravan site at the farm which has been booked up for more than a year ahead of the tour.

He said visitors staying on the farm were planning to walk the four miles into to Leyburn on Saturday to watch the race.

The farmer is planning to open one of his fields for visitor parking on the day.