Part of Bradford city centre became an icy art installation over the weekend, thrilling thousands of visitors.

City Park was home to a spectacular free display of ice sculptures around the Mirror Pool, depicting the festive story of “Have You Seen Santa?” as well as street performers and singing.

The sculptures were produced locally, by artist Jamie Wardley and his company, Sandinyoureye, and played out scenes from a story written to reflect Bradford’s rich multicultural heritage.

The nine ice sculptures were unveiled on Saturday afternoon and soon attracted hundreds of people eager to get their photo taken with the temporary works of art before they melted away. In the evening each was lit up, giving them a whole new dimension.

Sculptures included an ice whale, Christmas scenes and a images of the hero of the story, Little White Fox, who was sculpted from ice containing thousands of tiny bubbles to give him an extra white appearance.

The tale, written by Mr Wardley, revolves around the fox and his efforts to deliver a letter to Santa and save Christmas. Along the way he meets different animals he has been warned to stay clear of, including a polar bear and reindeer. He has to overcome his prejudices against these different species to get to Santa, and Mr Wardley says the story was written to promote tolerance.

He added: “It is a story for Bradford, it is about multiculturalism. People may have views about different groups, but this is a story about accepting each other.”

Although the sculptures would likely last until Sunday, most visitors came to appreciate them in their full, frozen glory on Saturday afternoon.

At the unveiling, Mr Wardley added: “They will be here until they melt, they will probably still be here tomorrow but maybe in some more abstract shapes.”

Before and after the unveiling, artists showed crowds how to produce an ice sculpture using tools as varied as chisels to chainsaws.

Vickie and Sat Chotai came to the city centre specially to see the sculptures, and Mrs Chotai said: “It’s magical, and it is a lovely story. It is very Christmassy without having to pay. People seem to be enjoying it more than a lot of the things you have to pay for.”

Mr Chotai added: “It is nice to see how well they have used the park. They have really matched the activity with the location.”

The sculptures were created by Mr Wardley and Andy Moss in the Sandinyoureye ice studio in Bradford, which is kept at a constant -12 degrees.

Funded by Bradford Council, it took them 18 days to sculpt the nine dioramas, three dimensional models, that illustrate key points in the story.

The company was set up in 2005, and also produces sand sculptures and at Halloween also did a huge pumpkin carving.