A GRINNING gargoyle should raise a few smiles from visitors to Worcester Cathedral - especially if its inspiration is pruning nearby.

Chris Filer (pictured right), the gardener at the historic landmark, has been immortalised in stone by a carved caricature, which is about to take its place on the highest point of the building.

The striking resemblance was created by skilled stonemasons, who repair and restore the Cathedral's infrastructure, to pay homage to the medieval practice of using members of the community as models for carved heads and fantastic creatures, which are often invisible from the ground.

The Dean of Worcester, the Very Rev Peter Marshall, said that, in its own strange way, stone was living matter.

"Our masons, with some glee, noting Chris's character as he works with living flowers, plants and trees, took his natural smile of welcome and fixed it in stone.

"For a very long time it will be high above the city as a signal that God also grins a smile of welcome."

The Cathedral Tower is now open for the summer season, from 10.30pm-4pm on Saturdays and weekdays during school holidays.