EIGHTEEN oriental boys left their birthplace at Upper Sapey, on the Herefordshire-Worcestershire border, for London's glamorous nightlife last weekend.

The boys - made of papier mache - were created by designer-maker Jane Tudge following a phone-call from a London-based event management company last September.

She will not be entirely sorry to see them go.

A student of fine art at Herefordshire College of Art and Design, wife and mother, Jane's life has been on hold in recent weeks, as first fine-tuning, and then the repetitive making process, filled every waking hour - "except for a break at Christmas!"

Their destination? Pride of place as unique centrepieces for a £1,000-a-ticket gala reception to be held at London's Victoria & Albert museum next Wednesday.

Inspiration for her boys came from the pre-dinner show to be enjoyed by guests at the event - aimed at raising £1 million for the NSPCC's Full Stop Appeal and Rome-based humanitarian aid charity, The Order of Malta.

Cirque du Soleil's new show, Dralion, is nearing the end of its London run at the Royal Albert Hall and guests at the charity evening will work up an appetite by enjoying the theatrical spills of the world-renowned Canadian company.

Initially given a more extravagant brief, Jane's proposal was for three life-sized acrobats to hang above the diners' heads.

"It was gutting when health and safety said no," said Jane, who, having travelled up to London with an Action Man and plastacine to present her idea to the committee, was forced to scale her idea down to 15 inches.

The boys are based on a character at the very start of the new Cirque du Soleil production, and each holds a specially commissioned hourglass.

This project has been a first for Jane, who is more used to being commissioned by interior designers. A specialist in papier mache, the organisers found her via the internet.

"If you put papier mache into Google, my name comes up pretty near the top!" said Jane, who holds courses for county-based organisation Creative Breaks.

Each boy, cast from a plastacine model, is dressed in paper clothes - painstakingly cut from a 12-piece pattern - and hand-painted.

A nineteenth boy will remain in the county, made as a prototype and kept for posterity.

"I'll break the mould when I'm sure they don't want any more!"