WESTBURY has been spruced up for the spring as members of the public pulled together to clean the streets, and the town council agreed to clean up the white horse.

Willing volunteers dug out their gardening gloves on Saturday morning and took part in the Great Spring Clean to tidy up the streets from Frogmore Road, Fore Street and West End.

Carole King, who worked with BA13 community area partnership to arrange the spring clean, said: “The day went really well. It was great to see about a dozen people come out to help us.

“Some elderly people or parents with young children who couldn’t help out themselves still came along to support us and brought biscuits, which was lovely.

“We chose to do the clean-up in this area as it is the gateway to Westbury and if the area is untidy you would notice it.

“We wouldn’t have been able to do the clean-up if it wasn’t for everyone’s help.

“It is great to see so many people taking pride in their town.”

It was agreed at recent meeting of Westbury Town Council that the famous landmark, the white horse, is also in need of a spring clean.

The town council has contacted English Heritage, which owns the white horse, and hopes to get the necessary equipment to carry out the clean over the spring.

At the meeting, Cllr Ian Cunningham said: “Part of the problem we have is that the cleaning doesn’t last very long.

“There is a need for a better, long-term policy in regards to maintenance of the horse.

“A simple clean, which is what we are proposing to do, costs around £4,000.

“We are going to go ahead with a spray clean, which is much less complicated and less expensive than other options.

“It does look a mess and it’s 2018 which is a significant year for some celebrations, so it needs to be cleaned up.”

It was also agreed at the meeting that a long-term plan is needed to manage to maintenance of the white horse more effectively to keep it clean all year round.

Cllr Cunningham added: “We need to tie English Heritage into it, we can’t be the only responsible people, and we need to create a long-term plan.”

Volunteers who would like to help with the clean please email info@westburytowncouncil.gov.uk.