MEET Haggis the Yeti! He is the latest creation of Dalgety Bay sculptor Denis Carbonaro and has been busy entertaining visitors to the Edinburgh Fringe this week.

Usually known for making wooden creations in his back garden, the former web designer had the idea of his new invention when he was throwing out a rug at Christmas time.

Since then, he spent seven months making his new, state-of-the-art friend, who weighs in at around 30kg and even has a cooling system incorporated into his design.

Denis, who originally hails from Sicily, is delighted with his latest piece of art which, he admits, has being a tougher challenge than his previous work which has included the construction of a wooden woolly mammoth, spiders and a galleon ship outside his Strathbeg Drive home.

"I did animation at college and had to make a character for a module and this is the one I designed," he explained. "It was my first costume as I normally do sculptures and it turned out to be much more complex than I could ever think.

"There is a lot of detail and each part of the body has difficulties and problem-solving."

Built to contain a human body, Denis, 48, had to look at making sure his yeti was comfortable and flexible and is continually having to tweak his design.

"In the Spring, the temperatures weren't so high but then it got to about 20 degrees and I couldn't stay inside for very long. I got selected to participate at the Royal Mile so I stopped and went into my workshop and worked on a cooling system. From China, I bought some special fans and there are flexible pipes in there and I created empty spaces for fresh air."

After first testing the costume out on West Fifers, Denis took Haggis to Edinburgh and has now secured a living statue spot for the Fringe Festival.

"When I did my first version, I took him at a weekend to Dunfermline for a couple of hours and it was that day I realised it was being successful. The day after I took it to Edinburgh and it was really busy," he added.

"The Fringe is an international festival so when I applied I was aware I may not be selected. I waited almost two months from the moment I applied. It is for me a great achievement. I was really happy as there are only 11 living statues at the Fringe and I was chosen as one of them."