CONTRACTORS and volunteers will begin the clean-up of Cherhill's white horse on Monday.

Cherhill's White Horse Restoration Committee has used an £18,000 grant from the landfill tax to recruit a company to undertake the work. The committee has surveyed the site and, working closely with National Trust warden Kevin Gover, has pegged out the outline.

The shape of the horse has changed since Calne doctor Christopher Alsop first cut it into the chalk in 1780. The new outline is based on a compromise between contemporary drawings and digital photographs of the horse today, but it won't change the shape significantly.

The project will use 150 tonnes of chalk to make the horse whiter and brighter. Workers will also sharpen features of the horse that have become untidy.

Cherill Parish Council chairman David Grafton said: "We want to improve the look of the horse. One leg is longer than the other and it appears to have antlers instead of ears.

"The actual project has been something which we have wanted to do for a number of years, so were keen to go on and get it done.

"We have just been trying to get it off the ground. But now we're all geared up and ready to go, weather permitting."