Sammy the Sea Snake was one of the stars of last year's Sheringham Carnival.

But this year, he is set to be upstaged by a new kid on the block - his cousin Oddball Cedric.

The 25ft beast has roared into life after six months of knitting and stitching by a dedicated team of people from Shannock Court in Sheringham.

He is made up of 350 knitted or crocheted squares from up to 100 balls of wool, and stuffed with 102 bags filled with 1,632 pages from the EDP and the North Norfolk News.

The project to knit Cedric came about when Shannock Court house manager Sharon Bowen spoke to Paula Popham from the carnival committee, who has put out a call for people to make 'sons of Sammy'.

Mrs Bowen suggested residents at the sheltered housing complex could make a relative.

She said: 'It started in October. The ladies who couldn't knit, crocheted. At one point it was 12ft long, but by the time we had finished it was 25ft.'

Gladys Malme, the 'team captain' for the knitters, said: 'Sharon volunteered us to do it, and we were all knitting squares, crocheting or stitching them together.

'It was all hands on deck. We were asked for a 12ft serpent, but they kept knitting and knitting.'

The original 20ft Sammy was designed by James Hunter and Megan Sadler from Sheringham Primary School for last year's events, including a raft race.

It was moored off the shore during carnival - but broke free in bad weather. Attempts to rescue it with a kayak failed, but a motor boat succeeded in towing it to safety on West Runton beach as it headed towards Cromer Pier.

Cedric will go into the carnival's Sammy Sea Serpent Look-alike competition on August 1 and will join the parade on August 5.

Mrs Bowen said Cedric would be mounted on cradles, and some of the residents would pull him along with their mobility scooters.