A 15-year-old boy has cleaned up after a can of paint was deliberately poured over a Malmesbury car park.

At the end of summer, a group stole the rusty can of paint from Ryalls, then proceeded to tip it over at the Park Road Industrial Estate car park. The paint also had been strewn over the car park's bridge structure and along the path by Malmesbury skatepark.

Ben Thornbury, 15, saw a post on Facebook about the incident.

The teenager, who is head volunteer for Helping The Community Of Malmesbury, jumped into action and headed to the scene. To begin with, he placed newspaper over the wet paint so it wouldn't be spread further. A few hours later, and armed with gloves and a stiff brush from Ryalls, he started the process of removing the paint alongside his brother Josh and local resident Julie Taylor.

Ben said: "It was one of the toughest clean ups we have done so far in the last few years. I think the people who have caused this vandalism should be very ashamed of themselves and should think next time before making a mess that volunteers have to clean up.”

His brother Josh added: “The punishment for the perpetrators who has done this should be to be fined £100 and made to clean it up”.

Town councillor Julie Exton said Ben was an inspiration to the local community. She added: “He spends every spare moment out cleaning things up or helping people. He’s a real example to the young people in our community.”

To find out more about Helping The Community Of Malmesbury go to https://ocm.wiltshire.gov.uk/malmesbury/helping-the-community-of-malmesbury/