A 37-year-old former soldier has been secretly renovating dilapidated benches and play areas in the middle of the night.
Stephen Rimmer has completed 18 projects in three months near his home in Oldham, repairing benches, fencing and railings with recycled materials and cheering them up with a splash of colour.
At first, council chiefs assumed park rangers were responsible, but soon realised this wasn't the case. Eventually, Oldham Council's head of parks and countryside Steve Smith got in touch with the local paper, asking the 'guerrilla handyman' to come forward.
Mr Rimmer, who graduates from a degree in three-dimensional design at Manchester Metropolitan University this week, said he carried out his work at night as there were less people around to bother him.
Speaking to DIY Week, Oldham Council's Mr Smith said he's more than pleased with the results. "It's a cracking job and he's a local lad using stuff that he's found, it's very community spirited. I like the way he went about it; what he's done is brighten things up and add interest to our countryside areas."
He added: "I haven't had a chance to speak to him with all the media interest, but when things have settled down I'd like to sit down with Stephen and talk about how we can work together - and not at five o'clock in the morning this time! He's got a really good eye and he's very creative. We want to harness that. We could do with more people like him."