A DISUSED bus shelter has been given a colourful make-over by an artist as part of a town’s Britain in Bloom bid.

The concrete bus shelter at the junction at Pottergate and Gallowgate, Richmond, had been vandalised with graffiti and filled with rubbish – which was not the image the committee behind Richmond in Bloom wanted to give the judges.

Local artist Jackie Stubbs offered her services to Original Richmond Business and Tourism Association to give the shelter a paint job.

She said: “Someone mentioned the bus shelter being an eyesore, and it was on the route the judges were going to take when they came to town earlier this month, so I offered to paint some sheep on it.

“I started at 4.30pm and worked until midnight, then came back the following morning to sweep out all the rubbish.

“I have had a lot of great comments about it on Facebook. I’m just pleased it has made a feature out of a disused bus shelter.”

Ms Stubbs hopes to get to work on other similar disused bus shelters in the town, and plans to invite local students design their own ideas and help her paint them.

She said: “We could use local stories such as the Drummer Boy, but I am open to whatever they think. I want to thank Jane Dobson who helped me with the painting, and Rodber’s of Richmond which donated some paint for the job.”

Marcia McLuckie, from Original Richmond Business and Tourism Association, said the whole community had come together to help spruce up the town, but they won’t hear the outcome of the Richmond in Bloom bid until September.

She said: “It was amazing to have so many people get behind us. There are too many people to thank. Next year we want to get some sponsorship so we can get even more hanging baskets.”

Richmond councillor Stuart Parsons added: “That area of town felt abandoned, and the bus shelter was an eyesore with graffiti on it and there was no one to care about it. Now it looks so much brighter and we have had lots of positive reaction from it.”