ANYONE passing the sleeping Gruffalo in the Wyre Forest over the next few weeks might be tempted to give him a nudge, wake him up and tell him he’s a star.

Because the wood sculpture, which has been snoozing in a clearing for more than six years, now finds itself among the iconic sights of Worcestershire, along with an old Kidderminster carpet factory, a water tower in Redditch and Worcester Cathedral.

They all feature in a new book Worcestershire in Photographs, which is the work of Steven Hamilton, who works in the despatch department of a corporate clothing company and uses a camera he bought from a colleague only a few years ago.

The 36-years-old didn’t start taking pictures seriously until 2011 but his portfolio caught the eye of the experts at Amberley Publishing in Stroud and led them to ask if he would be interested in a project devoted entirely to Worcestershire views.

Over an 18 month period he toured the county capturing what he saw in the frame.

The book includes the industrial architecture of the former carpet factory in New Road, Kidderminster and the water tower at Redditch but there are landscape images like Arrow Valley Lake at sunrise or a locomotive pulling a train through Trimpley Woods.

Steven Hamilton said: “The brief was to cover the character of Worcestershire, when you set out to do something like that it’s easy to get carried away by the landscape of the Malvern Hills or river shots of the Severn, Teme and Avon, but you must not forget the important industrial heritage of the northern part of the county nor the town centres, which have their own special appeal and can provide just as interesting photographs.”

With a total of 128 images, Worcestershire in Photographs by Steven Hamilton is published by Amberley and costs £17.99.