YOUNG people living in Westbury painted a graffiti mural on the skate ramp at Penleigh Park.

Developed by local community group POPCAN, working with Team10 – a group of local children who attend Westbury CE Junior School — the project was designed to help the children reclaim the park as their own.

The murals were painted by some of the 30 children from the Penleigh and Oldfield Park area who use the park.

Under the guidance of professional Bristol-based graffiti artist Steve Fitzpatrick, from Graffarty, the kids donned protective overalls, masks and goggles and got to work transforming the ramps and walls.

Each one got to take away a personalised name board as well as working on the ramps themselves.

Local resident and POPCAN member Tina Devereux said: “It was a fantastic opportunity for young people who use the skate ramps to take ownership of the area and brighten it up for everyone.

“It was great to see so many people taking part. We’d like to organise more local activities with young people and families in future.”

Westbury Town Council events co-ordinator, Martin Dawson, said: “The transformation of the skate park has been amazing.

The event was a huge success and showed the value the local community place on Penleigh Park.

“All the kids had a great time and did an fantastic job; we’ve got a few budding Banksys here.

“Sovereign Housing and POPCAN have been really instrumental in improving the area and I know they’ve got a lot of ambitions for the park and the area as a whole.

“The town council is really pleased to have helped play a part in making this event happen.”

In addition to creating a vibrant mural for the skate ramps, everyone who took part was able to create their own graffiti board to take home.

Funding was provided by Westbury Town Council and the Sovereign Housing Association.

Scott Jacobs-Lange, communities officer at Sovereign, said: “We want to support local residents to take the lead in creating the kind of community they’ll feel proud to be part of.

“The Penleigh and Oldfield Park community has so much ambition and determination - it’s a pleasure to be involved!”