A WOOD carver has finally been able to start work on a project he was forced to delay when his van and all his tools were stolen.

Mark “Rusty” Russell, 50, who runs Marnic Wood Carvings, in Colchester, was commissioned to create three sculptures for Colchester’s Castle Park – an owl, an Easter Island head and a green man.

But he had to delay the work after thieves stole his van containing all his tools from outside his houseboat, in the Hythe, in July.

Read the full story in today's Gazette.