An artist swapped her paint brush for a garden rake to create a 100ft-long sea serpent devouring cars crossing the causeway to Holy Island.<br /><br />Claire Eason and a team of volunteers were forced to work quickly to avoid the incoming tide in order to carve the terrifying sea monster into the sand.<br /><br />The team used garden rakes and buckets and spades to produce the eye-catching artwork on Monday (23/1).<br /><br />The effect was a huge leviathan slithering under the three-mile long causeway linking Lindisfarne, known as Holy Island, with the mainland in Northumberland.<br /><br />Claire, 58, a retired GP turned artist, said: “The idea came from being very familiar with the salt marshes and snaking streams on the causeway.<br /><br />“They reminded me of a snake and this is why we chose to create a serpent in the causeway.<br /><br />“It was a tricky design because you had to find the right sand on the causeway to create the artwork.<br /><br />“We eventually found the one place where the sand was good on either side of the road and got to work.<br /><br />“The serpent’s head was partly made from mud so when the water started to come in and cover the design you could still make out its horns.<br /><br />“The serpent literally became a creature living under the water.”<br /><br />The sand dragon measured 100ft (30m) from head to tail and took four hours to complete shortly before the tide started to come in.<br /><br />The serpent design was also chosen to remind drivers about the dangers of crossing the causeway.<br /><br />Dozens of people are rescued each year after their cars are stranded by sea which floods the narrow road twice a day<br /><br />Claire added: “In the summer so many drivers get caught in the water and have to call the emergency services for help.<br /><br />“When they arrive, they find drivers sat on their tops of their cars to escape the rising water and marshlands.<br /><br />“The serpent was created to give drivers an extra sign about the dangers of crossing the causeway in a hopes to remind them to only do it when it’s a safe crossing time.”
