Angel of the North Pole! Statue given a Santa hat

PRANKSTERS have given the Angel of the North a suitably festive look by dressing the 65ft high landmark in a Santa Claus hat.

In a daring operation early on Christmas Eve, they used ropes slung over the 175ft-wide wings to scale the Antony Gormley statue, which overlooks the A1 near Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.

One of the anonymous group, which is thought to include a number of expert climbers, said: ‘We really wanted to do something people might find uniformly enjoyable.’

Another added: ‘Ten of us, five different vans... we all filed out like paratroopers, everybody knew what their role was.’

They plan to take the Santa hat down ‘at an appropriate time’.