Fiona Banner's Tornado bell, created from a decommissioned fighter plane, is launched in Gateshead. Pupils from the Thomas Hepburn Community School were the first official bell ringers.

Gateshead's Hillgate Quay is home to a spectacular new piece of public art which the public are invited to ring. Tornado, which started its life as a fighter jet, was smelted and cast by the world renowned John Taylors Foundry in Loughborough using methods passed down through generations. The bell bears the serial number of the plane ZE728 and can be run by all who encounter it. 

Banner describes the piece as "a very simple form of communication that doesn't need words, an instrument that doesn't require music". Tornado explores ideas of transformation and the possibilities of change. 

Click here to find out more about Tornado and hear an interview with Fiona Banner.