A fabled creature of mythology is roaming Swindon after being rescued from a recycling bin.

Charlie the Unicorn has become a social media star in the town and more than 1,200 people are following his adventures.

They started when Jamie Turner posted a picture of a bedraggled and dejected unicorn soft toy dumped next to a recycling at West Swindon Asda with the caption "Unicorns aren’t just for Christmas."

Swindon Community Notice Board Facebook page members took the bedraggled and lonely little character to their hearts.

Jamie said: “I saw the unicorn after I popped in for some shopping and thought ‘That would make someone smile’ with my comment. I didn’t expect it to go this far.

“It’s great that it has brought some fun for the New Year to a lot of people.”

Page admins, Graham Stobbs and Debra Collins decided to rescue Charlie from his predicament.

“From the comments on SCNB it was clear everyone wanted to have fun so we decided to drop him at a couple of locations, then others would take over,” they said.

“It’s all a bit of fun and makes so many smile.”

They set up the Facebook page for Charlie and took him to Lydiard Park and Westlea Fire Station to begin with, posting pictures of him there.

He has since been taken to ATB Skateshop, St Andrews Church, a kebab van and Buzz Bingo by members of the public, who will now decide where he goes next.

In the space of 24 hours over 1,200 people followed the page - keen to see what the town’s mythical celebrity gets up to.

Each update on Charlie’s travels gets hundreds of likes and dozens of comments.

One fan wrote on the page: “Can’t believe how much Charlie is loved. Lets keep continuing to send him on nice adventures guys.”

Charlie has been thrilled at the kindness shown by the people of Swindon, he posted: “I was abandoned and dumped out on the streets. I was feeling rejected, sad and alone.

“Now I will enjoy new adventures with everyone spreading my love across Swindon.

“Thank you to everyone who has helped me so far and I can’t wait to see where I go next with the assistance of the lovely community.”