DORSET Council has assured residents that the iconic Osmington White Horse ‘does not need saving’ despite losing its distinctive colour and insisted the landmark will be 'looking at its best very soon’.

As reported, the landmark near Weymouth has not been sprayed since 2019 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and is no longer looking at its brightest.

Dorset Councillor Nick Ireland previously said the authority ‘no longer has any budget to maintain the figure'.

Bournemouth Echo: Dorset's White Horse, Picture: ZacharyCulpin/BNPS

But a spokesperson from the council said the historic hillside chalk figure, created in 1808 as a tribute to King George III, ‘is not at risk’.

The spokesperson said: “The current state of the horse is a perennial issue which always rears its head this time of year when the ground is saturated, the chalk is dirty and light is poor. Adonis - all 85m of him - does appear to blend in with his surroundings and lose some shape and vibrancy but this is temporary.

“We recognise the importance of this much-loved horse to local people and visitors, so we have an annual maintenance plan which follows the same pattern each year. This includes our countryside rangers redefining the edges of the feature with oak boards, around February time, then we clear bigger clumps of vegetation by hand. When the ground has warmed up around May (and when the wind is calm), we spray the horse with a herbicide. This process is repeated in August.

Read more: Dorset man on a mission to save iconic White Horse

“Most of our rangers were redeployed in 2020 and 2021, delivering medicines and food parcels to vulnerable residents during the pandemic. Unfortunately this coincided with the usual maintenance and spraying cycle at the Osmington Horse site.

“The work programme will resume this year, and we have some non-weather dependent maintenance planned in the coming weeks. Rest assured Adonis will be back to looking his best very soon.”