Young Calne resident, Olivia, aged 7, met with Calne’s town mayor to unveil new artwork she had designed to discourage vandals from damaging play equipment in Calne.

Olivia created the artwork after visiting the play area at Calne Recreation Ground to find that someone had damaged pieces of the equipment.

The artwork has been printed and displayed at all of the town council’s play areas and will feature as part of a local campaign to reduce damage to the equipment.

Calne town mayor, Cllr Rich Jones, said: “Olivia is a great example of why we’re all so proud to live in Calne.

"She took it upon herself to encourage others not to break equipment at the play areas by designing a lovely poster, which we have produced into permanent signage to remind visitors.

"It was a pleasure to present Olivia with a framed image of her artwork and a goody bag for all of her hard work.”

Rob Mercer, amenities, conservation and sustainability manager at Calne Town Council said: “Unfortunately, vandalism at Calne’s play areas is causing a huge strain on the council’s financial and staffing resources to replace damaged pieces of play equipment.

“For example, the recently damaged dolphin spring toy at the Recreation Ground Play Area will cost the town council approximately £550 to replace.

"The culprit for this incident was successfully identified on the town council’s CCTV system, with information passed on to the local police for further action.

“Many of the pieces of equipment are specially manufactured and requires custom parts to repair."

'Olivia is a great example of why we’re all so proud to live in Calne'