THE WORLD'S largest Christmas cracker has been created by bridge and turbine builders Mabey Bridge at its site in Chepstow.

The cracker, which is made from 20cm-thick high quality steel using the company's state-of-the-art automated processes, weighs in at 45 tonnes and is 25 metres long.

Design experts at Mabey Bridge works on the Newhouse Industrial Estate reckon it would take a force of 10,000 tonnes in opposite directions to "pull" it.

The paper hat inside has a diameter of 20 metres and was created with 63 metres of crepe paper.

Plant director Robin Stevens added: "We don't want to say what the gift is, suffice to say that at 3.5 metres in diameter and perfectly cylindrical, the cracker can easily accommodate gifts up to the size of motorbikes or even pianos."

The £38 million Newhouse facility was opened in 2011 to construct wind turbine towers and other steel products for the renewable energy market.

The company built an 80-metre drill conductor for use in Europe's largest off-shore wind turbine development.

Mabey Bridge employs 600 people at three sites two of which are in Chepstow and one in Lydney.