Dave the giant dinosaur has become the star attraction at a new shop that makes the most of recycled objects to create original gifts and clothes.

Robert and Kathryn Hipkiss combined their talents for engineering and design to create the gifts being sold at Asbeau in St John’s Street, Devizes.

Mrs Hipkiss, 35, said: “We sell a mixture of alternative clothing and accessories, alongside an array of products we make ourselves.”

But it is a prehistoric staff member who is catching the eye of shoppers. The fibreglass dinosaur joined the team after Mrs Hipkiss saw it on eBay and could not resist buying it.

Mr Hipkiss said: “She didn’t tell me until we were going out in the van and she asked me to make a detour to collect it. But he is a real talking point now.

“We use items often otherwise destined for landfill – such as bike tyres, vinyl records, old cassette tapes – to create anything from jewellery right up to furniture.

“We love retro items and revive them with our own twist, catering to all budgets. We also take on commissions.”

The couple, who between them have four children, started with an online business which they combined with other jobs.

But after daughter Isobel, now two, was born, they decided to take the plunge and open a shop.

They started in Trowbridge, but then needed bigger premises and were delighted when a shop became available in Devizes, where they live.

The couple, who both come from forces families, first met as teenagers in Gibraltar, but were quickly separated when Mr Hipkiss’s father was posted back to Britain.

Then, eight years ago, he received a Facebook message out of the blue from the woman who would later become his bride.

Mr Hipkiss, 37, said: “We exchanged messages and it was incredible that it turned out she was just living a few miles from me in Calne.

“It turned into a true life love story and it is great that we can now combine our skills to run this business in Devizes, where we live, and the two middle children, Samuel and Lucy, go to school.”