A NEW addition is pat-trolling underneath an Andover bridge.

Andover’s Troll bridge has a new troll underneath with the wooden figure, made by Hampshire chainsaw artist Richard Austin, commissioned by Test Valley Borough Council (TVBC) to replace the 18-year-old troll head that had rotted away.

The new climbing troll is made from Western Red Cedar and is around six feet in length.

Mr Austin, who visited Andover CE Primary School to run workshops with children and carry out chainsaw carving displays, said: “The troll was a really fun project, watch out for him when you are trip trapping across the bridge!”

TVBC leisure portfolio holder Councillor Tony Ward said: “This is a spectacular and welcome addition to the range of public art we have on display within Test Valley. I hope both children and adults alike will visit the bridge to see the very lifelike figure which, together with the carvings of the poem on the footbridge and the Billy Goats Gruff close by, helps keep the magic of storytelling alive.”

The project, which cost £3,500, was funded by section 106 funding for public art for Andover town centre projects.