A turf-cutting ceremony has been held to mark the start of work on a major £2.5m sculptured human landform as part of a new 29-hectare (71.7-acre) park in Northumberland.

Designs for the Northumberlandia project, which will be located on land donated by The Blagdon Estate at Shotton, near Cramlington, were drawn up by artist Charles Jencks. Developer The Banks Group is leading the scheme, which will see the shape of a woman carved into the landscape, measuring 400m (1,312ft) long and 34m (112ft) high.

The scheme was given the go-ahead in 2008 as part of the Durham-based developer's plans for a surface mine development and is expected to take two years to complete. It is anticipated that visitors will take around 20 minutes to walk the entire 1,162m (3,812ft)-long outer path around Northumberlandia, with 4,160m (13,648ft) of surfaced paths and 2,543m (8,343ft) of grass paths set to be created.

Mark Dowdall, The Banks Group's environment and community director, said: "This is a real milestone in the process of creating what we are confident will quickly become a widely-recognised and acclaimed regional landmark. "Northumberlandia and the surrounding park will be a wonderful place for local people to visit as well as providing a boost to the regional economy through increasing the numbers of visitors that come to the area to see it for themselves."

Blagdon Estate chief executive Bob Downer added: "We have always tried to play a proactive role in enhancing the local community in a wide range of ways, and the opportunities that this scheme will create will bring many benefits to local people in terms of leisure, nature conservation and public health."