A SPIRITED Ayr pensioner has cleaned up his streets act after tidying up 28 gardens of neighbouring flats in eight weeks.

Wallace Kerr, 68, has rallied the community in Dalmilling by tackling over grown plants and weeds outside council flats.

Over the summer, Wallace, fed up of the neglected gardens took it upon himself to clean them up.

A local business WSH fencing provided a trimmer and a family friend, Dean Holmes sent garden equipment from Lincoln, England to help Wallace.

Wallace told the Ayr Advertiser how he was spurred on after tidying up the garden of a resident who suffers from dementia.

He said: “One of the residents has got dementia and he was never capable of doing his garden and that turned out to be one of the worst ones, his weeds were up past his windows, and one was doing anything about it.

“It was that garden that first kicked me off again. because old junior is a really nice fella and when the nice weather comes he would never be able to get out and use that garden.”

From there the garden clean ups gained momentum with neighbours and kids getting involved. Wallace recalls how the effort took on a multi-lingual element with one resident writing a letter in Spanish to a Spanish resident to ask if they could remove the padlock from their garden so the team could tidy it.

Wallace also hopes it will make the gardens in the community safer after a previous used needle scare in the area.

He added: “I go into all the gardens first and I do all the heavy trimming, so I am getting to the bottom first and get through all this rubbish, so no one goes in until I’ve been and checked it all first. My biggest fear is kids going into a garden and somebody has just tossed a needle or something like that in there. If its clear there’s no risk of that.”

Wallace hopes more young people will get involved to start looking after their community.

He added:”I’m a pensioner I just want to lie in my hammock. I will always be involved with the community, but its a lot better with the kids running around laughing and singing instead of crying and moaning.”