An eye-catching new mural of a peacock has brightened up a town centre building, as well as delighted residents.

The impressive artwork has been created over the last few days by Curtis Hylton in Bank Street, Ashford with the aid of a cherry picker.

He previously painted Flamboyant Fawn – a mural of a stag and pheasant – on the wall opposite as part of the Unframed art trail in Ashford town centre last year.

That piece helped put the town on the map as it was voted the Best Street Art in March 2023 by Street Art Cities. It also featured in their top 20 works for all of 2023.

Mr Hylton, from Reading, said: “I’m happy to be back in Ashford.

“It was a treat to be a part of the Unframed legacy last year with the stag and to get the opportunity to come back and share another piece of art with the people of Ashford is super cool.

“The reaction has been very positive and coming off of the back of doing the stag, I was a bit skeptical because the sequels are never as good but people have enjoyed it as much as the stag which is great to see.

“The main hurdle to jump over is working around the weather but it’s one of those things being in the UK if you aren’t prepared to work in the wet are you really a painter?

“Dealing with the weather is an issue but with spray paint its very durable and dries in seconds so it’s probably one of the best tools to work with in this situation.”

The funding for the latest project – called Proud Peacock – came from Ashford’s allocation of the government's UK Shared Prosperity Fund, used to help restore community and local pride in town centres.

Watching the peacock come to life over the last few days, residents have reacted positively to the new piece.

Hayley Etsybird said on Facebook: “Very beautiful, it’s nice to see attractive art for once.”

Others however said more needs to be done to help the town.

Marie Russell said: “Looks fantastic but why can't they come up with a way to fill the empty shops or is Ashford going to become a town full of murals instead?”

In total, 18 works of art were created for the Unframed festival last year in Ashford.

As well as Flamboyant Fawn, the trail included a mural by Mr Doodle, known as Concrete Cluster and found on the side of Edinburgh Road car park.