THINK chainsaws and you picture burly, check-shirted lumberjacks.

But chainsaw-wielding sculptor Lorraine Botterill is changing all that.

Lorraine, from Sheffield, sculpts in wood using a chainsaw and occasionally a chisel for fine work.

Although there are a growing number of artists sculpting with chainsaws, it is still quite unusual for a woman to be wielding the instrument.

Lorraine visited Kirkby Grange Nurseries, on Clough Road at Flockton, to demonstrate her skills.

Visitors watched in awe as she crafted a mermaid from a chunk of wood.

Kirkby Grange Nurseries is the only outlet which stocks Lorraine's work.

However, she does take private commissions for pieces.

Lorraine, who has been sculpting for 11 years, is a judge for the Yorkshire Show and also gives demonstrations at shows.

She met Ian Lodge, a partner at Kirkby Grange Nurseries, while working on a series of landscaping projects - including a job at Rose Hill Natural Burial Ground in Huddersfield.

Mr Lodge said: "We are the only place where you can get Lorraine's pieces and they are popular.

"We've sold them for between £185 and £2,000.

"What she does is very impressive."