A duck, peacock and goose will be gracing the landscape at the front of Colchester General Hospital from this week.

Images of the three birds, each with their wings outstretched, have been turned into wooden outdoor benches at the Turner Road site.

The £12,000 project has been funded by the Colchester and Tendring Hospital Arts Project, following the awarding of a substantial national lottery grant for new art work for hospitals in north-east Essex.

The benches, the idea of hospital staff, will be officially handed over to the hospital by Westley Sandford, chairman of the project.

Nicola Henshaw has designed the oak benches and made litter bins.

She said: "I'm really pleased with the finished result. I wanted to make benches which were not only aesthetically pleasing but also practical. Perhaps my main priority was to create something which children would find fun and love to clamber all over.

"From the feedback I've had so far, I think I've succeeded."

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