Knitters create Christmas jumper for 32ft gritter

A group of knitters have spent 4,500 hours creating an enormous Christmas jumper for a gritter.

Ripon Community Poppy Project, which recently received the King's highest award for volunteering, was given the task by Econ Engineering.

The winter maintenance vehicle manufacturer said the 896-sq-ft jumper and hat would "keep Goldie the Gritter warm" during a busy season.

Stuart Martin, from the volunteer group, said: "We didn’t realise it was going to be this big!"

Measuring 32ft by 28ft (10m x 8.5m), the creation, unveiled at a warehouse in Ripon in front of local schoolchildren, is one of the group's largest.

The 35 volunteers spent a total of 4,500 hours, over the course of 12 months, creating the jumper and various accessories with 1,130 balls of wool.

Mr Martin said Econ had got in touch and asked if they would be interested in creating a sweater.

He said the group had given an "immediate yes", due to the support the firm had given the volunteers with Ripon's remembrance garden and metal soldier silhouettes.

"We thought we’d be doing 26 jumpers for all these gritter operatives, not a wagon," Hazel Barker, a fellow organiser, added.

"But it’s been great. We’re full of mad ideas and they [the knitters] fully expect something fantastic coming up."

According to Econ, Goldie the Gritter is set to embark on a 900-mile tour of the UK, visiting schools.

The educational visits would teach pupils about road safety and winter maintenance.

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