A dog walker has raised thousands of pounds in funding to improve a popular, deteriorating pathway in Malmesbury.

Kate Waterfield, of St Mary’s Street, contacted Malmesbury Civic Trust for help earlier this year after growing increasingly frustrated with the state of the river walk between Town Bridge and Foxley Road.

After two very wet years the path has become muddy and overgrown, but thanks to more than £8,000 in funding from various organisations, it is hoped restoration work will begin in the autumn.

Ms Waterfield, who regularly goes walking in the area with her golden retriever Nelson, said: “We have now obtained enough funding for the work and now we just need to get the job done.

“Some of the ground is so churned up there and even after all the dry weather it doesn’t take a lot for it to become muddy again with a little bit of rain.

“It’s very much a field walk, and it will remain that way, but it’s a matter of refurbishing the kissing gates and putting new ones in for better access.

“I’m just a dog walker who got fed up with the mud and you have to start somewhere, so I just came up with what I thought would be the best way to reinstate what had been done before.”

Funding for the scheme has come from numerous sources, chiefly Wiltshire Council’s Path Improvements Grant Scheme which donated £4,000 in match funding.

The Civic Trust donated £2,500, the town council has given £707 and materials and assistance to the value of £900 has been donated by residents and St Paul’s Malmesbury Without Parish Council.

Mayor John Gundry said: “Malmesbury Town Council is delighted to support Kate’s initiative to improve the river walk.

“This is a very popular path with many residents, but unfortunately it can become especially muddy and unpassable during the winter months.

“Kate’s improvements will make a big difference to walkers.”