The Malvern Hills – with its landscape of ancient woodland, rolling pastures and wild, open spaces – is famed for its spring water and breathtaking vistas. And now that claim to fame also extends to a streetlamp which is powered by dog poop.

The streetlamp, which lights up a popular area of outstanding beauty, is the brainchild of local resident Brian Harper, who was encouraged to create the anaerobic digester after becoming frustrated after seeing plastic bags full of poop tied to fences and foliage in his local area.

Brian Harper applied his engineering training to the problem and created the system that uses 10 bags of poop to power a street light straight for two hours.

The idea is simple: dog walkers deposit their dog’s droppings into the container and turn a handle. The poop is then transformed into methane via a process of anaerobic digestion.

The lamp stands outside Brian Harper’s home, on a main access route to the Malvern Hills in Worcestershire. He said: “The gas light captured people’s imagination and shows them dog poop has a value. As a result, we get it [poo] off the ground, into a receptacle, and producing something useful.”

The Malvern Hills resident says he has seen a reduction in dog waste since the anaerobic digester was first installed over a year ago, giving ramblers the perfect place to dispose of their pets’ deposits.

Park Spark project in Massachusetts, US also uses dog poop to power park lamps.

Rosa Medea is Life & Soul Magazine’s Chief @rosamedea