Page last updated at 11:11 GMT, Monday, 19 May 2008 12:11 UK

Pieces missing for giant jigsaw

Malcolm Butterworth is now looking for a good home for the giant jigsaw

A man took 18 months to complete a giant 18,235-piece jigsaw - only to find there were five bits missing.

Malcolm Butterworth, 70, worked on it in a bedroom at his home in Llandudno, Conwy, after his wife Margaret threw him out of the lounge.

However, the 10ft by 7ft (3m x 2.1m) puzzle was finally finished after makers Ravensburger sent the missing segments through the post from Germany.

Four Historic World Maps will now be sold to raise money for a hospice.

"Seven years ago I broke both legs in an accident at work and I started doing jigsaws to pass the time whilst I recovered," said Mr Butterworth, who owns Benards Gallery in Craig y Don, Llandudno.

"I started in the lounge, but it got too big and I had to move to a bedroom."

Space needed

As he came to the end of the task, however, he realised five pieces were missing.

"I contacted the company and they were very helpful, and sent me the pieces after I measured the co-ordinates of the missing bits and sent them photographs."

The company also came to the rescue when Mr Butterworth decided to glue the finished piece on a board.

"It would have been impossible to glue from underneath, but they had a special glue which you paint over the top, which then seeps down through the gaps between the pieces," he said.

Then the finished piece was so heavy Mr Butterworth had to enlist a friend to help him carry it downstairs.

The plan to show the jigsaw at the gallery also had to be abandoned - because it was too big to get through the door.

Now "anyone with space" is being invited to buy the piece with a donation to St Davids hospice.




video and audio news
Listen to Malcolm Butterworth on solving the problem



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