WITH its new gleaming white shine, motorists driving through Westbury may have to reach for their sunglasses as they pass the town's famous white horse.

Over the last few weeks the landmark has undergone a full makeover, including a steam clean and a lick of paint, and will soon be back to its best.

It still requires one more coat of the special German white paint, which is said to be resistant to the lichens and algae, which all too often have turned the white horse into a mucky mare.

Beth Cavanagh, English Heritage's head of visitor operations at the site, said: "It has to have another coat of paint but there has already been a huge improvement so we are very pleased.

"We did hope to have it finished by now but it has been slightly delayed because of the weather."

The work on the horse is being carried out by Wells based building repair company Carrek, who had to use ropes to clean and paint the horse, which is carved into the steep hillside.

Originally made of chalk, it was covered in concrete in the 1930s and despite several clean-ups over the year, has always failed to remain clean.

This time the experts hope the white paint will mean the horse will never again be referred to as the old grey mare.

Ms Cavanagh said: "The paint is resistant to the lichens and algae that grow there. Even when they went back to paint it after it had been steam cleaned they had already started growing but the paint arrests that. Hopefully this time it will stay a lot whiter for a lot longer.

"We've been very kindly supported by Westbury Town Council, who has helped to fund us, so it is a real community partnership."

Westbury mayor Cllr Pamela Cox-Maidment said she and the rest of the town were delighted at the transformation. "For a long time it's been the butt of so many jokes with people calling it the old grey mare," she said.

"This is a big improvement. It's our landmark. Everyone who comes in by train or road sees the horse. A lot of other towns see it as the landmark for west Wiltshire as well.

"There has been a very positive response from people in the town."

The town council plans to hold a ceremony in the near future and light up the horse with Second World War searchlights so the whole town can see it in all its glory.