An artist has brought the sights of the jungle to a “grim” hospital passage that links the children's wards to surgical theatres.

Armed with dozens of cans of paint and a handful of brushes, Leigh Warman has decorated both walls and the ceiling of a 150m corridor beneath Watford General Hospital, in Vicarage Road, with zebras, hippos, lions, penguins and giraffes.

Work on the mural began in August when the walls were repaired and cleaned before the design was sketched out and painting began.

It is now expected to be completed on Friday.

Leigh, from Newberries Avenue, Radlett, said: “It's such a lovely thing to do for the kids.

“It was a really horrible dark area where all the rubbish comes through. It was very frightening for the children.”

The jungle theme of the mural took inspiration from Safari ward, the name of the children's day unit at the hospital that accompanies the Starfish acute in-patient ward.

Leigh said: “When children come into hospital it's a very frightening thing for them. At least this makes it that little less frightening for them. It also makes it a much nicer working environment for staff.”

One staff member impressed with Leigh's work was midwife Elaine Johnson.

She said: “We absolutely love it. Every time we come from or to work there's a bit extra done so we can see the progress.”

Jo Fearn, Head Nurse for Children's Services, said the Paediatrics team were delighted with the painting of the tunnel.

She said: "It has made a tremendous difference and transformed it into a much more child friendly environment from the gloomy tunnel that it was.

"The tunnel connects the two main buildings and therefore all the children being admitted to Starfish Ward from the Children's Emergency Department are transported through here, as indeed are all the children on Starfish Ward or Safari Day Unit that need to go to theatre.

"We cannot thank Leigh enough for offerering to come in and do the painting and also the following companies whom without their donations and sponsorships this project would not have been possible: Lumley Estates, MET Asset Management, LSI Independent Utility Brokers, Johnstones Paints, Hamilton Acorn and Winsor and Newton."