Firefighters swapped their hoses for paint brushes to help smarten up a community hall after it was vandalised.

A team from Sheppey fire station’s green watch and other Kent Fire and Rescue Service volunteers spent three hours painting the walls of the Sheppey Mencap DeLacey Hall in Esplanade Gardens, Sheerness, on Sunday.

Last month we reported how yobs covered the building in graffiti and community campaigner Peter MacDonald arranged for it to be cleaned off by Swale council.

The building is used by East Kent Mencap and firefighter Andy Friday said they wanted to help make it nicer for them.

He added: “We would like to say thank you to Swale Builders’ Supplies who donated the paint to us.”

Green watch manager Andy Bridger-Smart said: “Like many people, we were disappointed by the vandalism and having contacts with Mencap users, we experienced first hand their frustration that their facility had been defaced in such a mindless way.

“This is also our community as we all live and work in the area and experience has shown it doesn’t take long once an area starts to suffer vandalism it can also attract activity such as waste dumping, which can lead to an increase in fires.”