A GIANT sculpture of a reclining goddess with hips and breasts up to 100ft high is set to confront North-East motorists.

The sculpture, which has been likened to the Angel of the North, will be placed next to the A1 motorway and is expected to stretch along half a mile of dual carriageway.

The woman will be created ten miles north of Newcastle from waste material generated from open-cast mining.

The creation, nicknamed the Goddess of the North, will contain millions of tons of mining spoil and will be visible from a passenger jet.

The design for the goddess has come from landscape sculptor Charles Jencks.

Mr Jencks, who recently won a major art prize for his landscaping for the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, was approached by the Banks Group, a mining and property company, about the commission.

The company wants to create the sculpture using mining spoil to offset criticism against open-cast mining of millions of tons of coal lying under farmland in Northumberland.

The woman is expected to be the centrepiece of a "land-art park", with footpaths crossing over the sculpture.

By the time it is finished in two or three years' time, the goddess is expected to become as famous as the Angel of the North, which lies about 15 miles to the south.

The 65ft high metal statue, designed by Anthony Gormley, has been singled out for praise across the art world and has become an iconic symbol for the region.