Spoons flooding in to Oswestry centre for Uri Geller artwork
Spoons from as far as New York and Amsterdam have been arriving at a Shropshire firm after bosses asked for help in building an unusual piece of art for Uri Geller.
The British Ironwork Centre at Aston, near Oswestry, needs 5,000 spoons to finish off a 12 foot sized gorilla statue for the colourful illusionist.
Mr Geller says he will fly to Oswestry to pick the gorilla up and he will take it back to his Berkshire mansion in a cage hanging from a helicopter.
Ironworks spokesman Clive Knowles said today: "It has gone absolutely mad and we have had spoons sent from everywhere.
"Everyone seems to want to take part since we announced we were looking for the spoons. We have had a spoon from the Bronx in New York, that was one of the first to arrive, while we had one from Amsterdam, we have received them from South Africa. It has been crazy.
"It has really caught everyone's imagination and with their help I am sure we will soon get the 5,000 spoons we need.
"I think it will be lovely when Uri Geller comes here to our open day in May to unveil the finished work.
"It is positive news for the area and it shows Oswestry in a good light.
"We are already working on the design of the gorilla and we are looking at bending some of the spoons to create its hair. We have our staff working on it now and the next stage will be manufacturing it."
The entertainer, famous for his spoon-bending feats commissioned the British Ironwork Centre to create the huge sculpture to sit in the garden of his luxury mansion.
Mr Geller often opens up his property to sick children as part of his charitable work.
He commissioned the work after meeting Mr Knowles to discuss the creation of new lighting for his garden.
Mr Knowles said the firm had created special spoon banks.
He said the spoon banks had gone into various schools including the Marches at Oswestry, Oswestry School and Woodside Primary School while another is to open at Sainsbury's.
