THE people of a picture-postcard village have made it even more so - by actually using a postcard to improve their local beck.

Volunteers at Thornton-le-Dale, near Pickering, used the view captured on an old postcard to inspire them for their project.

The Thornton Beck Group were inspired by an old postcard photograph owned by Dave Mitchell, one of the volunteers. The idea was to return the beck to the way it was decades ago, as it had become overgrown and heavily silted.

The work, supported by a small grant from North Yorkshire County Councillor Janet Sanderson’s Locality Budget and the North York Moors National Park, has been a community effort.

Weeds, low branches, tree stumps and foliage have been removed and a stone wall rebuilt along with improvements to the river bank to help to prevent silting and erosion.