NOT a very long time ago in a house not that far away, a dedicated father began building his Star Wars-obsessed child her very own life-size version of R2-D2.

When Rick Hogg’s six-year-old daughter Grace requested that Luke Skywalker’s heroic sidekick attend her next birthday party, the 32-year-old began turning his kitchen into a Droid workshop any Jawa would be proud of.

Two-and-a-half months and £250 later, the married father-of-two is nearing completion on the robot, which moves, ‘talks’ and lights up just like George Lucas’ original.

“I asked her who she wanted to come to her next birthday party and she said R2-D2. Obviously, I knew that wasn’t possible so I decided to build it instead,” said Rick, from Little Lever.

“Before this, I’d never even used a jigsaw and I wasn’t very handy at all. The head is a lampshade from Ikea and the rest is made out of wood. It has a bluetooth speaker in it and I have an app on my phone that makes all the R2-D2 noises.

“Its head turns and it will eventually be remote controlled so it can move around.”

Construction on R2 has become a bit of a family passion – little Millie Hogg, four, has even been lending a hand so that the Droid is completed in time for her big sister’s birthday on March 11.

“Millie, loves it. We had to buy her a children’s tool set so she could help out,” added Rick, a self-employed online sales executive who works from home.

Rick has created R2 from scratch, using blueprints and technical specifications from r2-d2builder.com – a surprisingly thriving online community of people who’ve also decided to create their very own Droid.

The film fan further honed his handy skills building a replica hoverboard for a Back to the Future-obsessed friend.

And now with his trundling tour-de-force nearing completion, Rick, wife Lindsay and the whole family are eagerly anticipating the latest instalment of Star Wars – Episode VII: The Force Awakens.

“My wife and I have already got our tickets booked for the premiere on the 17th and we’ll also be taking the children to see it.

“Grace is really excited to having her very own R2-D2 and we’re all looking forward to watching the new film,” added Rick.