PART of a cathedral model, made up of around 800,000 matchsticks, will be on display in Salisbury later this month.

After six and a half years of building, Salisbury Cross Keys Shopping Centre supervisor, Barry King, has almost completed the first stage of his Salisbury Cathedral model, using only matchsticks.

Barry set himself the challenge to break the current matchstick model world record, while raising money for Salisbury District Hospital's Stars Appeal.

"I've always wanted to do a piece of artwork that would become famous," Barry told the Journal.

He added: "I've always been interested in art. This idea started when my friend visited from Dubai and we went to Old Sarum and Stonehenge, and then I came up with the idea when we visited Salisbury Cathedral - it just popped into my head.

"It took me six months to decide I was actually going to do it, and then it took me a further three weeks to draw up the plans."

Barry has almost completed the West Front section of his model, and has started the North porch and front grounds.

The current record for the biggest matchstick model was set by David Reynolds, from Southampton, in 2009. He spent 15 years and £5,000 creating a replica of the Brent Bravo oil rig using 4.75 million matches.

Barry wants to smash this record within the next 15 years, by using between five and six million match sticks.

Once completed, the cathedral model is designed to be 15ft by 9ft, with the matchstick spire hitting around 7ft.

"It was quite tough at the start, I started with the West Front because this was the most detailed part. The rest should hopefully be a bit easier," Barry added.

When Barry was asked why he was raising money for the Stars Appeal, he said: "It's such a good cause, and Stars Appeal helps make hospital visits better for patients and families, I was more than happy to help."

And the 49-year-old said his progress "still hasn't sunken in", adding: "I've still got a long way to go, but I feel it is an achievement getting this far and now I just want to complete it."

The artwork at its current stage will be displayed in Salisbury Guildhall on August 19, between 11am and 5pm, August 20 until 23, 9am to 5pm, and August 27 until 29, 9am to 5pm.