OXFORD United fans stepped in to help get the club’s ox statue back to its shining best.

Last month, vandals daubed the Kassam Stadium statue in pink paint and scrawled black graffiti across the plinth.

But yesterday morning builder Shaun Bradford, 51, and his employees spent six hours using a power spray and chemical solution to clean up the £25,000 artwork.

Lifelong United fan Mr Bradford, who has a corporate box at the stadium, is not charging the club and said it was the least he could do.

He said: “It is a lovely work of art and it was a real shame it was targeted.

“The vandals must have spent hours doing it because it is completely covered.

“When we heard about the problem we wanted to lend a hand.

“We had a go at cleaning it on Friday but found the paint just would not budge.

“The substance we are using is environmentally friendly and just lifts the paint off.”

Mr Bradford was joined by Wayne Tutty, 47, and his son Alex Bradford, 17.

Mr Tutty, a former apprentice footballer at the club, said: “It was a struggle at first but we were determined to get it cleaned.”

Fundraisers from charity Against Breast Cancer took advantage of the pink paint and raised hundreds of pounds with collections at two home games.

The collection at the Shrewsbury Town match last month raised £646.65.

Campaign group Fathers4Justice phoned the Oxford Mail to claim responsibility for the vandalism, but this was later ruled out by police.

Club chairman Kelvin Thomas thanked the three fans for their help.

He said: “We have managed to get a lot of positive publicity both locally and nationally from this and we would like to thank our fans for raising so much money for such a worthwhile cause.

“The fans have pulled together for the club and are even cleaning it for us to help restore it to its former glory.”