EXECUTIVES from across the globe have been getting their hands dirty in Swindon.

Building sandpits, laying paths, and erecting fence posts are not the tasks BP executives are used to doing during their normal working day.

But the group came together at Toothill Farm, in Bodiam Drive, to give the garden a sprucing up. The old farmhouse has about half an acre of grassland behind it.

Following a campaign to save the site from developers, Swindon Council handed it over to its youth service.

The site, which is undergoing a £12,000 revamp, is being transformed into a base for the youth service and a number of children's groups, including Toothill Junior Youth Club.

As part of the project, BP employees, from as far afield as Bangkok and Chicago helped transform the space.

Mavis Read, treasurer of the youth club, said: "They are here for two days. They have been here labouring in the wet.

"We have been knee-deep in mud but they have working very hard."

The visit has been co-ordinated by Raleigh International, which runs expedition for young people to developing countries.

Ian McLaughlin, Raleigh training consultant, said: "It is team building for BP's international team which only gets together a couple of times a year."