A Bradford student who makes works of art from dead animals, today insisted: "I'm no ghoul."

Ebony Andrews, 22, has created the work from a variety of carcasses she has found by the roadside.

The final year art student revealed how the idea came from walks in the countryside around her home in Florence Avenue, Wilsden.

Ebony, a former pupil at Bingley Grammar school, has put on the display as part of her final year's work at the University of Northumbria.

The exhibits include:

l a rabbit turned into a pot plant

l a headless owl used as a desk tidy

l and a squirrel whose insides have been replaced by a remote control for a DVD player.

But today she insisted no animals had suffered and she was trying to make people think about how they are treated.

She said: "I am not a vegetarian and have no problems eating meat.

"But I am an animal lover and I have always had pets. I want people to think about how we treat them."

She admitted she was squeamish handling the carcasses at first but is now so interested in her work she has overcome those initial feelings.

"I am not a ghoul," she said.

"People should come and see them and talk to me about what I am trying to say before making a judgement."

Her mum Moira and step-father Robert are to visit the exhibition by the BA Fine Art student next week.

She said: "My mum has always supported me. They know where I am coming from."

She wants to pursue a career in the art world when she graduates later this summer and said her interest started when she first took a course in taxidermy and started using basics such as feathers in her work in her first year.

Ebony said she was "braced" for a reaction to her unusual creations.

She said: "Rather than just judge, people are taking the time to walk around so they can understand where I am coming from.

"If I provoke emotions in people - either good or bad - it means they are thinking about the work, which is part of being an artist."