A MAJOR piece of public art is to be unveiled on Monday.

Called Threshold, it will look like a giant mirror-finished stainless steel door frame.

The sculpture is interactive and will respond to the people who walk through the doorway every day on their way to work, to shop, or to local schools.

The five-metre high sculpture will be sited at the southern end of Gateshead High Street, near the Matalan and Durham Pine stores.

Bosses at Gateshead Council hope it will act as a doorway into the town centre, and will stimulate the ears, as well as the eyes, of thousands of passers-by.

It was designed and produced by artist Lulu Quinn, who visited the town several times over the past year to record voices and conversations of hundreds of Gateshead residents who form part of the unique piece.

Movement monitors in the sculpture will sense people passing through it, triggering random voices and sound effects, including the opening of a door.

The speakers' topics include life on Gateshead High Street and local history, and there are even some traditional North-East songs.