A JIGSAW fanatic was finally able to finish a puzzle with more than 33,000 pieces by putting it together in a school hall.

When Sue Clemson started the Educa puzzle entitled Wildlife in January last year, it was the biggest jigsaw available to buy.

But by the time she finished it 15 months later - in March this year - a 40,000 piece behemoth had been released to usurp it.

Mrs Clemson’s jigsaw was so large she had to put the jungle scene which features dozens of spectacular animals together in 3,000 piece sections on her dining table.

But she had nowhere at her home in Braiswick to unite each of the segments, so hatched a plan to take over the hall at the Gilberd School in Colchester - where she works as the curriculum leader for arts - for a day to finally finish the labour of love.

The jigsaw finally measured in at 5.7m long and is 1.57m high.

Mrs Clemson, 58, said she loved doing puzzles since she was a child and was delighted to finish the biggest one she had ever attempted.

She said: “I have always loved doing them.

“For me it is escapism. I find them very relaxing.

“I have done one before which is 24,000 pieces.

“But now this one has been completed I have said I just can’t do anything bigger.

“There is just no space for me to lay it out anywhere. But I will keep doing them.

“You now get jigsaw apps which you can do on your phone which helps to save a bit on space.”

Pupils at the school did not help put the monster puzzle together, but enjoyed admiring Mrs Clemson’s handiwork.

She added: “It was quite fiddly to put it all together so me and my husband took care of that.

“But it was lovely to see the children were enthused and fascinated by it when they came in to see it at break and lunch time.

“We have a motto called The Gilberd Way which is about commitment and perseverance and I was telling them how this embodies it nicely.”

Sadly, despite countless hours of hard work on constructing the puzzle, it was only completely together for less than a day as the jigsaw had to be deconstructed when Mrs Clemson went home for the evening.

“The worst bit about it was breaking it up,” she said.

“All 33,600 pieces had to go back into the box.

“It was first laid at 10am and was picked up by 3.30pm.

“It took an hour and a half to pick it all up but at least I have my dining room back.”

Mrs Clemson said her top tips for completing puzzles was not too stray too far from the classic edges first technique.

She said: “I would alway say start with the edges first and the corners. Then for me it is all about colour.

“I get piles and piles of pieces which are a similar colour and try and focus on putting them together first.”