Ode to foxes painted on commuter station platform

Artist Chloe Farrant painted the wall with foxes, flowers and other animals

A fox family known to roam a railway embankment in Devon has inspired a colourful mural on a station platform, its creators say.

Artist Chloe Farrant said the foxes were an element regular commuters at Pinhoe station "could connect with".

The aims of the mural, funded by Network Rail and South Western Railway (SWR), is to improve the passenger experience, said David Harvey, a volunteer with Friends of Pinhoe Station.

He added: "I just think it's great to have the concept of making stations places where people want to be rather than just an interchange."

Chloe Farrant was inspired by nature and wildlife

Ms Farrant said she had spent 14 days on the project and was asked to include the foxes because they were "often spotted playing on the embankments".

She said: "The foxes are something that locals can connect with because they have seen them around.

"When I was part way through, one of the residents came up and asked for a hedgehog so I popped one in for him as well," she added.

"I paint to give an uplifting feeling to people, I hope it brightens their day as they come past, it was a really lovely project to be part of."

Friends of Pinhoe Station is a voluntary group which works to improve the station - a commuter hub for Exeter - as well as its rail and bus links.

Mr Harvey said the mural was part of the group's mission to make the station "more beautiful" and to "drive passenger numbers".

He said they had already built a "beautiful flower bed" on the upper platform, while the latest project had transformed a breeze block wall on the lower one.

The mural has brought nature and life to a neglected wall

Ebbie Peters, from Wellbeing Exeter, who was tasked with finding an artist to transform the wall, said Pinhoe had "mourned the loss of green spaces" due to housing developments and transforming the wall was a reminder of that natural world.

Friends of Pinhoe Station has also been campaigning for a new footbridge and extra services to Exeter to meet "latent demand".