Chewing gum artist: Painting miniature masterpieces

An artist is making the streets of London a little more colourful by painting miniature pictures on pieces of discarded chewing gum.

For the past six years, Ben Wilson has spent days on end scouring pavements for discarded gum that he can bring to life.

Mr Wilson has created more than 8,000 works of art this way - each one photographed and catalogued for his archive. A picture can take anything from two hours to three days to complete.

As well as producing his own compositions he takes commissions from members of the public. The Royal Society of Chemistry recently asked him to paint depictions of each of the 118 known elements.

His work has even made him a minor celebrity in South Korea after he appeared on television there.

BBC News spent a day on the streets with Mr Wilson to see how he creates his miniature masterpieces.