AN emerging artist used his engineering skills to create an evocative tribute to the fallen of the First World War.

Ray Lonsdale's finished work, the Return of the Souls, has gone on display at the Durham Light Infantry Museum and Durham Art Gallery.

The 0.8-metre high hand, made from 46 layers of crafted sheet steel, may turn out to be the prototype for a larger version Ray would like to produce.

The sculpture - his first artistic work - took him about 150 hours to complete, time he snatched in breaks from his "day job", running his engineering business.

Mr Lonsdale is now looking for sponsorship before considering moving on to a potential four-metre version of the hand.

He said Return of the Souls was inspired by reading accounts of trench warfare during the 1914-18 conflict.

"It's dedicated to the victims of the First World War, whose bodies were lost in the quagmire of the battlefields and whose bones suffer the indignity of still being unearthed by farmers to this day.

"I'd dearly love to be given the opportunity to complete the full-size piece, as I feel these people deserve to be remembered in a dramatic fashion that mirrors their dramatic lives."

Other artistic works in the pipeline include a memorial to those lost at sea and a lament to the heavy industry jobs which have disappeared across the North-East.

Return of the Souls can be viewed at the DLI, at Aykley Heads, until November 18. It will then go on display at Seaton Holme, in Easington Village, for a month.

Mr Lonsdale can be contacted at Anvil Engineering, on 0191-526 8326.