A Vale pub has brightened up the area with a 25ft mural painted on the side wall.

A full wall sized mural has been painted at the Laughing Fox pub in Alexandria.

It shows a fox, in keeping with the name of the pub in Bridge Street, and a polar bear hanging from the chimney – the result of a joke between one of the owners and regular customers.

Michael Reilly, who has run the pub since 2005 with his family, said the feedback had been good from customers, with many saying it had "brightened up" the place.

He said the reason behind the polar bear was a joke with his dad and regulars, with a polar bear on Fox's Glacier Mints.

He said he would one day get a polar bear painted on the building, so when Michael was commissioning the artist he asked him to tie it all in together.

The work was done by Shawlands graffiti artist Barry Jenkins, known as Barry the Cat.

Michael told the Reporter: "I asked him to come up with something that linked in the name.

"There's also a polar bear, since my dad has an ongoing joke with people in the pub about it.

"People are saying it has brightened up the area, and you can see it when you come across the bridge.

"It's been positive feedback, I think it's gone down rather well."

The work took three days to complete over last weekend, in typical Scottish weather, with rain, hail and wind before the sun finally shone through.

Michael said he wanted to get the work done having seen similar murals on buildings in Glasgow, which were put up before the Commonwealth Games.

Several paintings are displayed throughout the city, taking up full walls showing athletes who competed, or other art linked to the Games, which were held in Glasgow in 2014.

Michael said: "A lot of people compared it to the Commonwealth Games ones in Glasgow.

"That was probably one of the driving factors for me getting it done."

With two more businesses in the area, Michael says he has now got plans for similar murals on the other pubs.

He said the next would be The Pond, with ideas still in the pipeline for what would be put up.

He thanked Barry for painting the work, and regulars for coming up with the ideas for the mural.