A SOCIAL media phenomenon, which sees people painting rocks and hiding them in public places, has arrived in Bromsgrove.

The Facebook group 'Bromsgrove ROCKS!' has attracted more than 700 members in its first four months, and receives dozens of posts each day from residents sharing their designs and discoveries.

Aston Fields mum Jayne Taylor, who launched the page in November, said: "It's a community group where children and adults alike just buy some rocks, or find them unpainted, and decorate them any way they like.

"You can use pens, paints, glitter, stickers and then varnish them with clear lacquer.

"Then you write on the bottom 'Bromsgrove ROCKS!' and 'please re-hide or keep', and you go and hide it somewhere for people to find."

The trend of social rock-painting has taken the USA by storm over the course of the last year, but the hobby is gaining popularity in the West Midlands, with groups set up in Redditch, Coventry and Stratford-upon-Avon.

Bromsgrove members mainly hide their designs in Sanders Park, but some have been found in Webbs Garden Centre, Hanbury Woods and Lickey Hills Country Park.

Jayne, who is known by local children as 'The Rock Lady', said: "It's time to put Bromsgrove on the map.

"We've had members hiding them in other districts or even taking them on holiday, which means awareness of the group is growing.

"The feedback we're getting is so positive. So many parents have told me how much fun their children are having, and that it's getting them out and about in the fresh air.

"People were even doing it while it was snowing. Someone at the weekend found 18 in one go.

"Children get so excited when they find a rock or see that someone has found and posted a photo of their design on the Facebook group.

"It's also great for grown-ups like myself who want to get back into art and lose themselves in it. And it gets the community together."

The hobby has recently been picked up by local community groups, including Finstall Beavers, where Jayne's seven-year-old son Thomas is a member.

Bromsgrove ROCKS! is welcoming new followers, ahead of a rock-painting picnic, which is set to be scheduled for the school summer holidays.

For more information or to join, search Bromsgrove ROCKS! on Facebook.