But students at Pontefract's New College have proved once and for all that at least one Dalek is a real sweetie. The team of textile students built their own version – out of liquorice.

This Dalek will be tasked with entertaining visitors to this year's Pontefract Liquorice Festival.The students used more than 50kg of liquorice to bring the Daliq.

They spent a month working with design technician Steve Jefferies and textiles tutor Amanda Bird to create the work, which stands at around 5ft 10ins. The liquorice was donated by the town's two sweet factories, Monkhill and Haribo.

Daliq stands on casters and is supposed to swivel but as Amanda explained: "Daliq has mobility issues – like most Daleks he is unable to climb stairs and this brought about the downfall of the Dalek race.

Different

"New College is a staunch supporter of the Pontefract Liquorice Festival. In the past our students have produced clothes, hats, shoes and accessories, all out of liquorice. This year we wanted to try something a little different and Daliq is certainly that."

Daliq was at Pontefract Museum on Friday afternoon and will be there until the week after the festival.

The Pontefract Liquorice Festival has grown into one of the region's major festivals – last year it attracted more than 20,000 visitors.

On July 12-13 there will be stalls, workshops and liquorice food on offer, from bread to beer. Visit www.pontefract liquorice.co.uk for more details.