WATCHET artist Rob Heard has been praised by Prime Minister Theresa May for his part in the Armistice Day centenary tributes.

In a personal letter, she told Rob that he is the latest recipient of her ‘Points of Light’ award for inspiring work in the community: “Your painstaking work has resulted in a truly moving piece of art that is a poignant tribute to the terrible sacrifices of the First World War.”

Rob single-handedly created 72,396 shrouded figures, now covering the equivalent of two football pitches at London’s Olympic Park as a highlight of the commemorations.

After a two-year labour of remembrance taking up to 15 hours a day seven days a week, Rob’s foot-high figures represent every UK serviceman killed at the Battle of the Somme who has no known grave.

The figures were delivered to the site in four articulated lorries and put in place by scores of servicemen and women.

BBC TV history presenter Dan Snow, who visited the park, said: “This is something I never thought I would see. It is the most powerful depiction of the losses in the First World War that I have ever come across.”

The Princess Royal visited the display yesterday (Thursday). It closes on Sunday, and Rob hopes that figures which are not sold to raise money for charities will go back to the countries of the soldiers’ origins.

Rob said: “I have had so much help from so many to get to this point and see the shrouds laid out in London. It is just incredible.

“These men who gave their lives so long ago deserve to be remembered.”

He added: “This job has changed my life. The last two years have been a hard but moving experience and I don’t rule out doing something similar in the future.

“The Free Press was the first to give me invaluable publicity from the very start of the journey – and where it led, everyone else has followed!”