A PHOTOGRAPHY giant has come forward to replace an exhibition that was vandalised in West Cumbria.

In Whitehaven, a popular exhibition was put out of use after vandals defaced the images.

Global imaging company Canon has come forward and provided replacements that will be in a new location at on Sugar Tongue Whitehaven Marina.

Dean Hodgson, client services manager at Canon said: “We’ve got a large contract within the local area and as part of that contact, we have a social impact commitment of giving back to the local community.

"It’s important for towns to showcase their history of what it was and what it is now by educating the public.

"I’m local to the area and had seen the damage and seen Gerard’s post on social media so we reached out to him to offer our support."

The new photographs show historic images of Whitehaven from over the years some are the same but there are some new additions.

The images are there to promote the full exhibition that has been taking place in The Beacon Museum, also on the town’s Marina.

To keep the images safe and to avoid any further acts of vandalism the photos are now placed in an area covered by CCTV.

They have also been printed on stronger metallic material which will avoid them being broken as two were previously.

Raymond Gill, Deputy Mayor of Whitehaven said: "We welcome the help from Canon, any help we can get to support the town is welcome.

"We appreciate them doing this on our behalf."

"It’s brilliant and its good for the town. It came as a surprise as we weren’t expecting this.

"What they’ve brought is far superior to what we had before."

"Any sort of street art that brings back memories of Whitehaven will be welcomed."

"My personal thanks go to Canon and everyone else who’s helped to make this happen."

Mr Richardson, a local business owner who helped organise the exhibition, said: “What a lovely community gesture this is from a national company.

"It’s even more special because we didn’t solicit the support. Canon UK came to us, so all credit to them and I hope everyone enjoys the images which we've placed on the Sugar Tongue."