Vibrant murals unveiled to brighten walkway

Artist Samantha Redmill said the response to the murals had been "really positive"

A series of colourful murals painted by a local artist and teacher have been unveiled in a "forgotten" Salisbury alleyway.

The Pepys' Walk Mural was created by Samantha Redmill with help from children at Bishop Wordsworth's School, where she teaches.

Ms Redmill said "I did it because I wanted to change the atmosphere of this walkway. It feels amazing, really incredible."

Ms Redmill gave up her time and painted the murals for free over 18 months, with funding for materials supplied by Salisbury Business Improvement District (BID).

The murals were funded by the BID, with CEO Ellie Burke praising them for "brightening up a forgotten alleyway"

The unveiling, at Old George Mall in the city centre, was attended by local MP John Glen and the CEO of Salisbury BID Ellie Burke.

Ms Burke said the art project, which cost "a few thousand pounds", was a real community effort.

"It's been a collaboration since the start," she said. "Sam has had help from the kids at Bishop Wordsworth's School and it's lovely to walk past it every day and see a representation of our community and our creative spirit."

Ms Redmill said she was lucky to have such an opportunity.

"Fortunately they gave me free rein with what I could do. It's an amalgamation of everything going on in my head. Lots of different compositions of things that I've seen, some of them are made-up flowers," she said.

Ms Redmill said it had been an ongoing project for a year and a half.

"Fortunately the school were very kind and gave me a half day to bring students down," she said.

"I've been doing it on my days off basically – one half day a week for a year and a half.

"It feels amazing, really incredible."