CRAFTSMAN John Lloyd has carved Sarsen stones that will be displayed at Stonehenge and seen by visitors from across the world.

Mr Lloyd is the owner of stonemasons Lloyds of Bedwyn, which has been run by his family for more than 200 years.

In September he was contacted by English Heritage, the steward for Stonehenge, to ask if he could provide Sarsen stone for the visitors centre and three marker stones for the outer circle of the historic landmark.

He said: “After I was asked for the Sarsen stone for the visitors centre, another part of English Heritage asked if I could provide marker stones because three had gone missing. I said yes and they said they’d been searching everywhere for someone.

“Sarsen stone is very difficult to work, it’s tougher than granite so not a lot of people still work it.

“I had to go out onto the Marlborough Downs to find the stones that would be suitable and weren’t marked. I bring them back to the work shop sawn with wire, work them with diamond blades and then finish by hand.”

Mr Lloyd was asked to create the stones for the opening of the new Stonehenge exhibition and visitor centre, which opened on December 18 as part of a £27m project by English Heritage.

He said: “It’s something different and that’s what I tend to do. I did the new steps for Marlborough Town Hall and paved all Hungerford High Street, and my family did the the Bruce Tunnel on the Kennet and Avon Canal.

“When you look at at the stones they seem simple and that of course means they are very complex, because the simplest things take the most work to create.”