'King Charles' made a royal visit to the Jurston Fields housing development ahead of his coronation on Saturday.

'The King' turned the heads of passing pedestrians and walkers, surprised to see his royal highness had found time in his diary to make the trip on Wednesday, April 26.

However, on closer inspection it was discovered the lookalike was in fact a mannequin, with a mask of King Charles attached to the top.

The doppelgänger was the creation of Linda Stamp and Mary Diamond, two saleswomen at the CG Fry & Son office at the house builder's new Wellington estate. The figure of fun was set up as an affectionate tribute to the new monarch, who CG Fry work with on the Poundbury estate in Dorset.

Mary said: "We do a lot of work with him in Poundbury. We build at the Duchy estate at Poundbury and we're one of the three builders that build in conjunction with the Duchy."

"We feel Jurston Fields is like a mini-Pound bury." Linda said, adding: "The residents here are going to have a lovely party on Saturday and we thought 'let's bring him to life here' because he's part of our life at CG Fry."

The mannequin caused many passers by to double take as they passed the royal replica. "People are looking and laughing, they're stopping and smiling away. It's nice to make people laugh" Linda said.

A reporter from the Wellington Weekly spotted several drivers sneaking a peak at 'the King' as they passed the office.

One of the estate's residents has organised an open-air party to celebrate the coronation which is set to take place on Saturday.

Asked about their coronation weekend plans, Linda and Mary said they would be working from the office. "Anyone who wants to buy a house on Saturday knows where to come now."

'The King' is set to leave on Friday because of a pre-existing commitment at Westminster Abbey in London, but could well return to Wellington for a chilled out Bank Holiday Monday.