A SPECTACLE of ice and fire was on display as part of an annual festival.

Fire and Ice in Durham got off to a busy start, with people visiting the city to catch a glimpse of icy representations of superheroes, fantastic characters and popular North-East faces.

The festival features 10 ice sculptures, including representations of Wonder Woman, the Thunderbird from film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Bumblebee, from Transformers and Lego Batman.

Other real life figures to be carved out of ice were Ant and Dec, who were the winners of a public vote, and Grace Darling, famed for her heroic rescue of shipwreck survivors in the North Sea.

One of the sculptures also recognises the work of “real life heroes” in the fire brigade, with visitors able to donate to the Firefighters Charity.

For those with a sweet tooth, there was also a chance for people to get their hands on some goodies – as long as they were able to hack through ice to get to them.

The event continues on Saturday, with a fresh set of sculptures.