West Wiltshire residents are being asked to help manage one of the area’s most recognisable landmarks.

Wiltshire Council, English Heritage, Westbury Town Council and Wiltshire Police are holding an event at the Westbury White Horse and Bratton Camp, open between 11am and 3pm on Saturday, to raise awareness of management issues facing the site, like the maintenance of the horse and grazing the chalk grassland.

The Westbury White Horse is a well loved icon of Wiltshire and it is hoped the event will encourage local people to get involved in its management.

Leo Wirtz, senior countryside ranger at Wiltshire Council, is responsible for organising the open day. He said “Lots and lots of people use the White Horse including dog walkers, kite flyers and hang gliders.

“We don’t have a huge physical presence at the site but we do manage it so we wanted people to know our faces so if they have any problems or have any ideas they can approach us.

“We want to get a community of people together who are passionate about the White Horse so we all take ownership of the landmark.”

Mike Johnson, is Community Beat Manager for Westbury Rural team, which has been running for three years, and will be meeting the public at the event.

He told the Wiltshire Times: “We’ve been working closely with the town council, local parish councils and English Heritage to monitor the beauty spot over the last three years.

“We felt this would be a great opportunity for us to meet the public, tell them what we do and listen to any problems or ideas they might have concerning the White Horse.”

Wiltshire Council’s exhibition bus will also be on site with a display of old photos, maps and aerial photos. There will be a series guided walks taken by an English Heritage representative.

English Heritage are responsible for the maintenance of the White Horse, which had its last full makeover in 2006, which included a steam clean and a lick of special German paint that is resistant to the lichens and algae.