SCULPTOR Roger Stephens has been shortlisted for the prestigious Wildlife Artist of the Year award.

Mr Stephens, pictured, who lives in Salisbury and has a studio on the Clarendon estate, is hoping to land a £10,000 prize.

The former cathedral stonemason is exhibiting a piece he made for the Stewards of the Earth exhibition at Sarum College last year.

It is entitled For Those in Peril in the Sea, and he describes it as “a fragment of a whale” made out of polyphant – Cornish serpentine – on frosted glass.

It goes on display at the Mall Galleries in London from June 2 to 7, and entry is free. All the works on view are for sale.

Mr Stephens, 69, once had a craft shop in Estcourt Road before going back into education to pursue his passion for working with stone.

For nine years he worked on the restoration of Salisbury Cathedral, but was made redundant after the completion of the West Front and branched out on his own.

He said: “I’ve crafted stone pretty much all my life, starting way back at prep school.

“I normally do less figurative work than this, it’s a bit of a departure.”