Sculptor Mark Reed’s work for All England Lawn Tennis Club showing tennis player morphing into a tree was made at family fruit farm in Ashill

A stunning statue of a tennis player morphing into a tree has become a big hit with fans attending this year's Wimbledon championship.

Sculptor Mark Reed spent 6,000 hours creating the beech tree that is shaped like a figure about to serve an ace out of bronze.

The sculpture was commissioned by the All England Lawn Tennis Club and was made on Mr Reed's family fruit farm in Ashill.

Mr Reed said: "Most of my work has actually been for private collections, so I haven't had that much work that has been in the public sphere.

"It's very exciting and so nice that everyone can get to enjoy it."

Viewed from one side, the tree looks like a female player while from the other side the form looks more male.

Nearly one and a half tonnes of bronze was used to make the artwork that consists of nearly 2,000 beech leaves painted in a myriad of colours.

Six people helped Mark, including his wife, Hannah, and three of their four sons.

Mr Reed added: "They invited me down to Wimbledon and I was lucky enough to see a game.

"The serving player was just in the air with their hand reached up to the sky and they were levitating as they were jumping just about to serve.

“So to morph the player, the human figure and the tree in such a way to capture that moment was the quest and I wanted to runaway instantly and get started."