A HISTORIC landmark that had lost its glow has been freshened up to its former gleaming glory.

A battering by the elements took its toll on the White Horse in Uffington, which was looking dull in its centuries-old age.

But volunteers today spruced up the shape to a sparkling white, in a re-chalking tradition that dates back hundreds of years.

Wantage schoolboy Harry Ford, nine, turned up with mum Lesley Ford to fill in the horse's left ear with crumbled stone.

He said: "We thought it would be a nice thing to do. We were driving back on the way and I said 'that hill looks a lot whiter'. It's a landmark.

"Before, it actually looked brown and its upper head looked a bit yellow. When we got there there were only three others but then the entire county seemed to come."

The Bronze Age horse near Wantage is the oldest chalk figure in the country, dating back 3,000 years.

It is looked after by the National Trust, which has been running volunteering sessions to restore the horse's visibility.