I lower the hedge exterior my house into the form of a unadorned woman

A retired art teacher has cut a hedge in the shape of a naked lady outside his house for almost 20 years.

Pensioner Keith Tyssen, 90, decided in 2005 that he would indulge his love for sculpture by turning the hedge in front of his home into a naked woman.

Naming her Gloria, the divorced father-of-four said people stop and take photos of the 5ft tall reclining figure as they pass his house in Sheffield.

He revealed drunk people climb onto the sculpture for a grope, with some even pretending to have sex with the topiary. 

He said: ‘I’m 90 now but still fairly physically ok, so I’ll keep her going.

Pensioner Keith Tyssen, 90, (pictured) turned the hedge in his front garden into a naked woman

Naming her Gloria, the pensioner said people stop and take photos of the figure as they pass his house in Sheffield 

Mr Tyssen has shaped and pruned Gloria outside his house for many years 

‘She isn’t going anywhere. She’ll stay sat there on my wall.

‘The shape isn’t easy to do, so when I do get compliments, it’s very pleasant to hear.

‘People do smile when they see Gloria and I like that.’

Mr Tyssen explained he hadn’t planned a naked lady when he started manipulating his hedge into a slightly larger than life lady.

He achieved her shape thanks to his time as an art student when he completed life drawing lessons, before becoming a teacher.

He said: ‘I started by doing a figure of a monster which was headbutting a lamp post at the end of my garden and then it developed into this monster defending a maiden.

‘She developed slowly over two to three years – it was quite fun really.

‘The lady came out of my love for visual invention – it’s just a creative thing I enjoy messing about with.’

Mr Tyssen explained he hadn’t planned a naked lady when he started manipulating his hedge into a slightly larger than life lady

Mr Tyssen said drunk people climb onto the sculpture for a grope, with some even pretending to have sex with the topiary

The sculpture is even bigger than the pensioner himself, with some people climbing on the topiary and pretending to have sex with it 

Mr Tyssen has maintained Gloria to encourage art on the streets

Over the years Mr Tyssen woke up on a few occasions to drunk people who mounted Gloria and pretended to have sex with her for photos.

It would annoy Mr Tyssen as it would damage her shape – but thankfully he hasn’t had any unwanted visitors for a while.

Mr Tyssen has maintained Gloria to encourage art on the streets.

He said: ‘As a society we would benefit from having more public art which is beautiful, thoughtful and gentle.

‘It doesn’t have to be hilarious, but thoughtful, gentle humour is a good thing.

‘People do smile when they see Gloria, they don’t break into hilarious laughter but quietly smile, and I like seeing that humour in people’s faces.

‘I enjoy having the responsibility of keeping the hedge looking nice – I enjoy being involved in creativity.’