Delivery driver Bobby Burden Brewer has been hailed a community hero for sprucing up filthy road signs he encounters on his travels.

Bobby spends his days off cleaning and painting the metal street signs in north Dorset to leave them gleaming and like new.

He reckons that most of the signs have been neglected and left to ruin for more than 40 years.

And with the local council strapped for cash, work to replenish them is unlikely to happen any time soon.

The 51-year-old has given about 40 black and white signs a makeover using specialist metal paint he buys himself.

Bournemouth Echo: Local hero Bobby Burden BrewerLocal hero Bobby Burden Brewer (Image: Corin Messer/BNPS)

Bobby is a delivery driver for Waitrose and operates in the towns of Shaftesbury and Gillingham.

He said: "Every day I see another street sign that needs doing and I make a mental note of it and go and give it a fresh lick of paint on my day off.

"The council just doesn't do it anymore.

"In total I reckon I have about 40 signs.

"I go all around north Dorset delivering and get two days off a week and I use those to paint signs.

"Each one takes me one hour to do. I enjoy doing it. I get loads of people thanking me when they realise I'm not from the council and am doing it voluntarily.

Bournemouth Echo: Bobby gives a sign a lick of paintBobby gives a sign a lick of paint (Image: BNPS/Corin Messer)

"It makes a big difference to the neighbourhoods, it just makes it a more of a pleasant environment, like it is looked after.

"Some of the signs haven't been touched for years. One sign I did recently was for a housing estate that was built in 1972 and you could just tell the street sign hadn't been touched since then.

"Another time this chap came up and said he'd lived there 30 years and never saw the sign repainted.

"They are just in a terrible state. The way I see it I am restoring the signs and helping the council and the taxpayer out."

One local resident posted on social media: "The guy deserves an MBE."