King Kong wears a disapproving glare as he towers over the beach at Weston-super-Mare.King Kong wears a disapproving glare as he towers over the beach at Weston-super-Mare.

Hollywood stars have taken over a beach as an annual sand sculpture event gets under way.

Batman, King Kong, Yoda from Star Wars and troubled cabbie Travis Bickle from the Robert De Niro cult film Taxi Driver are gracing the beach at Weston-super-Mare in Somerset.

Other idols of Hollywood featuring in the Sand Sculpture Festival include Gollum, from Lord of the Rings, friendly alien ET and film director Alfred Hitchcock.

More than 20 of the world’s greatest sculptors from nine different countries are working away using 4,000 tonnes of sand from the beach.

Since the festival started in 2006 with two Dutch sand sculptors building a giant King Kong from 30 tons of sand, themes have included Fairy Tales, The Continents of the World, Under the Ocean, Great Britain and The Jungle.

The festival opens to the public tomorrow, Good Friday, and will stay open until the end of September.

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