A STUNNING 24-foot high mural of a koala bear has been sprayed onto the side of a Malmesbury nursery.

The artwork was created on a previously drab, grey wall on the side of K & S Childcare nursery by Luke Hollingworth, whose daughter attends the nursery.

Luke, a street artist who works under the name Syd, aimed to create a replacement for the murals on the Burnham care home that is soon to be torn down.

He originally made the murals on the now derelict care home, dubbed ‘the Malmesbury zoo’, to practice his craft on a site he knew he wouldn’t get in trouble for using.

Steve Paginton runs the nursery with his wife Karen. Steve suggested to Luke that he designed the new mural as children would be upset with the old ones being torn down.

“The nursery had a big grey wall I’ve always had my eye on,” he said.

“I think the kids will be upset when the animals get pulled down on the Burnham House care home, so that was the plan; to negate the loss of the zoo.

“Steve gave me total creative freedom; I basically just said the word koala to them and off I went.

“With it being a nursery I wanted to do something that was apt. Koalas are cuddly and young kids like them so I thought it was perfect for a nursery. It even has a baby koala on its back to fit in.

“It’s in a good spot as it’s visible as soon as you turn the corner onto the roads it’s on. It’s also visible from the Dyson factory.

“I have this crazy image of James Dyson looking out of his office window and seeing it.”

Luke uploaded the picture of the finished product to Facebook and the image received hundreds of ‘shares’ overnight as well as over 15,000 ‘likes’ on photo sharing app Instagram.

“I’m really happy with the response on Facebook; it’s smashed my records for shares which previously stood at around 40,” he said.

Steve Paginton and his wife Karen were thrilled with the result.

“Everybody that goes by has positive comments about it; it’s very striking,” said Steve.

“Two or three lorries that have been driving past have stopped to take photos of it.”

Karen reacted with surprise when she arrived home from holiday to see the final design.

“We were completely wowed by it,” she said. “Until you see it in reality you don’t get a clear idea of the size.

“The wall has historically been used for children to draw chalk drawings on and Luke kindly left a space for a blackboard that the children can use.”

Luke is now looking for more locations to exhibit his work and is asking residents with large, available walls on the side of their house to offer up the space for art.

“I live a market town with primarily grade II listed building, so finding these big spots is difficult,” he continued.

“I could travel to London or Bristol but I’d rather do it closer to home.”

To follow Luke’s art and to commission him for work visit his website at thestencilshed.co.uk.