Artist crafts England badge on beach as World Cup campaign nears kick-off

Three lions on a beach!

An artist has crafted a giant England badge out of stones on the sand near Lowestoft, Suffolk, as the national men’s team prepare to kick off their World Cup campaign later on Wednesday.

Toby Clark, 40, said it took him “a little over eight-and-a-half hours” to sculpt the shield which measures six metres wide by nine metres tall (19.6ft by 29.5ft).

The football fan made the emblem on the opening day of the World Cup on June 11, with the lettering spelling out “England” and the star above the shield increasing its size further.

The giant England badge was made by artist Toby Clark near Lowestoft, Suffolk (Joe Giddens/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Joe Giddens

“It’s all just stones off the beach, just scooping them up in tubs and sprinkling them down,” said Mr Clark.

He said he flattened out the area first and laid out a grid in string to help guide him.

“I’ve always wanted to do stuff like this since watching Art Attack growing up,” he said.

“Doing this specifically, I often do big England badges when I can.

Mr Clark made the image with stones found on the beach (Joe Giddens/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Joe Giddens

“I’ve done big chalk ones on the patio before.

“Whenever I get the opportunity, I do one.”

Mr Clark, who works as a cleaner, said “people seem to be really impressed with it”.

He said there had been “an awful lot of talk of people just assuming that it’s AI when they see the pictures, which I take as a huge compliment”.

Mr Clark was a fan of Art Attack as a youngster (Joe Giddens/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Joe Giddens

In a social media post Mr Clark, of Lowestoft, said that a vehicle had driven over the beach artwork earlier in the week.

Speaking on Wednesday, he said he believed this was accidental and that he had restored the badge before England’s opening match against Croatia at the Dallas Stadium later.

“When you’re in the location you can clearly see it is the only access point onto the beach for vehicles,” he said.

“Whoever’s driven over it presumably had the keys to the gate to get onto the beach in the first place.

The creation took shape ahead of England’s opening match against Croatia (Joe Giddens/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Joe Giddens

“So it’s going to be the council or police, fire brigade, maybe coastguard. Someone like that.

“I don’t think it’s intentional and I don’t think they would have had any option.

“I think I’ve done a pretty decent job of restoring it.

“It looks good to me.”

Asked about England’s chances at the tournament, Mr Clark said: “We’re going to bring it home, obviously – otherwise I’ve wasted my time.”