Medical students who are holed up in Preston following Hurricane Irma have been giving something back to the city.

The American University of the Caribbean students wanted to say thank you to Preston for its hospitality.

More than 100 students have spent the week painting, clearing rubbish, sculpting and creating a new community greenspace.

Joining forces with Creativity Works in Avenham the students were armed with paintbrushes and rollers to paint partition walls.

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More than 700 students have been studying at the University of Central Lancashire while their university in the Caribbean island of Saint Maarten is repaired.

Canadian student Triston Berger said: “We feel really grateful to Preston for the way the University and the people in the city have taken us in when we needed help so this is our way of saying thank you and giving a little back.”

Navina DeLight, a first year student from Florida, said: “Everybody we’ve met in Preston has been so friendly and so kind towards us all so when the opportunity to help came through a lot of us wanted to do our bit as a way of recognising what Preston has done.”

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Students are also planning with work with Sahara, an organisation that helps women who have suffered from domestic abuse, and they will also visit English Martyrs Catholic Primary School, to take part in a question and answer session about their time in the Caribbean and moving to Preston.

UCLan lecturer at the centre for community leadership Bob Whalley said: “It’s been great to see so many of the students engage with our volunteering projects and it’s been a unique way of showing them the area where they are living and studying.

“At one of our projects with the Foxton Centre homeless charity we’re building and installing a painted piece of sculpted art, which will be dedicated to the AUC students, so there will be a permanent reminder of when they came to Preston and their time at the University.”