MORE than six-and-a-half thousand bricks have already been sold as part of a project to re-create Cirencester Abbey as a 70,000-brick LEGO model.

The build, part of the Abbey 900 festival celebrating 900 years since the now defunct abbey was erected, began on Tuesday.

Residents and visitors are being encouraged to buy a brick for £1 from a number of Cirencester shops, to add to the model, housed in the Parish Church.

William Cooper, volunteer co-ordinator of stewards over-seeing the build, said he did not know how long the build would take.

“We've actually sold six-and-a-half-thousand bricks already, so if the owners of those bricks come in it'll start growing quite nicely,” he said on Tuesday.

“We've got the stewards coming in two or three hour slots every day and there will normally be two,” he continued.

“If we get three coach loads [of visitors with LEGO bricks] on Monday morning, then we'll know to have more,” he joked.

Every pupil of Powell’s Primary School will visit the church at the end of May to place each place a brick, and William said he is delighted at how involved all the local schools have been in the project.

The model was designed by 20-year-old Oxford Brookes student Amy Speed.

It is hoped the build will be finished by the end of the festival on September 24.

Visit abbey900ciren@gmail.com for more details.