A popular TV character has been announced for a charity art trail.

Newcastle’s St Oswald’s Hospice – which brought Great North Snowdogs and Elmer’s Great North Parade to the region - has announced it is to hold its third, free, public art trail. And the ‘star’ of the trail is none other than the baa-rilliant family favourite, Shaun the Sheep.

It is the third charity trial for the hospice as it follows previous years which were Great North Snowdogs in 2016 and Elmer's Great North Parade.

The Hospice’s Chief Executive Steph Edusei said the trail will showcase the wealth of artistic talent in the area, whilst positively contributing to the economic, social and cultural life of the region.

“But above all it will be fun,” she said. “And our way of saying thank you to the people of this region for all the love and support they have shown St Oswald’s Hospice over the years.

“We exist to help them, but we couldn’t do that if they didn’t help us – and we are immensely grateful.”

Tens of thousands of people engaged with Elmer’s Great North Parade in 2019 and most visitors spent extra time and money exploring Tyne and Wear, boosting its economy by an estimate £1.2m.

Newcastle City Council is headline sponsor of the Shaun the Sheep on the Tyne trail and Cllr Nick Kemp, Leader of Newcastle City Council, said it was “proud to support such a fantastic initiative and worthwhile cause”.

He said: “St Oswald’s Hospice is a fantastic organisation providing brilliant support to individuals and families at the most difficult times. The impact of what they do is incredible, and I can say this from a personal experience. I am genuinely in awe of what St Oswald's do - it is quite simply incredible.

Each sculpture will be life-sized and decorated uniquely by local and national artists.

Schools and youth groups also get the chance to be involved in next year's trail, and will be able to decorate smaller sculptures known as 'Little Shauns'.

It will be on for 10 weeks from July to September. Participants can download an app or follow a trail map.