An Edinburgh mum has crafted an amazing fire and police station for her sons using an incredible DIY hack.
Melissa McKerrow, from Morningside, built the play station complete with fire, police and ambulance sections from an old mahogany sideboard she picked up on gumtree for free.
The 40-year-old embarked on the unique project after her two sons Stanley, 6, and Sonny, 3, became big fans of emergency services toys.
Melissa took just two weeks to construct the unit and only paid out £20 for all the paint, wheels, stickers and bells she needed.
The Daily Record reports the creative mum has previously turned her hand to making a garage and petrol station out of a disused shelving unit, complete with petrol pump.
The mum-of-two says she gets a buzz out of being creative: "I like making things and upcycling, I always have.
"The boys loved firemen and police cars so I was looking for something to get them for Christmas but I just couldn't face going to Argos and paying to have another big plastic lump in my house.
"I had done something similar before and made a garage for them so I just thought I would do a similar thing.
"Melissa says it wasn't just the boys who were delighted with the final product - husband Chris, 41, was impressed too.
She said: "Mark is useless at that sort of thing so he was a bit like 'why are you bothering', but then he would bring me cups of tea or a glass of wine while I worked on it.
"When the boys seen it on Christmas day they were so happy. They loved it so that was very satisfying."
Melissa is now selling the toy for £50 on Facebook after her boys grew out of it - making a £30 profit on her DIY effort.
She added: "They have moved on to other things now so I am hoping someone else will want it for their kid to get hours of enjoyment out of it too. I hadn't thought about it before, but I am actually making money out of it which is an added bonus."
