Brightening up the town centre is the task being set students from Basildon College.

They are painting the boards covering the building work on the new shopping centre at Fodderwick.

Their work involves designing and painting a mural with the theme of Basildon's 50th anniversary and the dawning of a new millennium, depicting scenes from the past 1,000 years as well as the town's progress over the past five decades.

The mural will take three weeks to complete, and once the new centre is finished the work will be transferred to Basildon College for the students to use as part of their curriculum work.

Strokes ahead - students paint the mural as Simon Curl from Art and Cultural Exchange, David Scallan, Basildon Council's community liaison officer and Jim Parker from the Art and Cultural Exchange watch on

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