British sculptor Maurice Agis has been charged with gross negligence manslaughter over an accident involving one of his sculptures that killed two women.

His inflatable sculpture, Dreamscape, slipped its moorings in Chester-le-Street, in northeast Britain, in July 2006, killing two people and injuring 13.

After an extensive investigation by police, Agis was charged Wednesday with manslaughter. Liverpool arts company Brouhaha International and Chester-le-Street District Council were charged with breaching health and safety in connection with the same accident.

Dreamscape was a five-metre-high piece the size of a football field made of multicoloured PVC sheets inflated by industrial hot-air blowers.

Agis described the work as "surreal, magic, like swimming in a sea of changing colours."

It had recently been displayed in Liverpool and Germany and had toured Europe for more than 10 years before the fatal accident.

About 30 people were inside the sculpture exploring its multicoloured rooms, when it blew upward, apparently lifted by a gust of wind, flew 35 metres and crashed to the ground.

Some people were thrown free, but some were trapped inside. One three-year-old fell 15 metres and suffered multiple fractures.

Two area women died at the scene and 10 other people were treated in hospital.

Agis, 76, of London had been creating public art for more than 40 years.

The Crown said investigators took more than 200 statements in trying to determine what happened that day.

Agis was given bail Wednesday and is to appear in a London court Feb. 26.