AN art project inspired by the history of a Winchester street has been unveiled.

Six large panels featuring the stories, memories and photographs of local people are displayed on hoardings on Chesil Street.

They adorn fencing around the extra-care housing development on the former car park.

The £4,000 city council project called ‘We found it in Chesil’ was led by artist Laurence Dube-Rushby and involved local residents and groups.

These included pupils from All Saints’ School, young people and staff from the Chesil Theatre, residents at the St John’s Charity and businesses such as Chesil Rectory, The Black Boy, Black Bottle and Sovereign Bathrooms.

Also consulted were neighbours including the owner of Soke House who shared the history and photographs of the property, and local organisations such as the City Mill, Winchester tour guides and the Hampshire Cultural Trust.

Ms Dube-Rushby said: “It was amazing to discover a wealth of historical facts related to the street as well as personal stories. Chesil Street seems like a whole separate part of Winchester with a real identity attached to it. I have really enjoyed the time I spent here with all the wonderful business-owners, residents, young people and visitors. I hope they like the designs as much as I enjoyed making them.”

Cllr Caroline Horrill, city council portfolio holder for housing services, said: “It was a great pleasure to unveil the designs for the ‘We found it in Chesil’ community art project and to meet Laurence and the people who engaged with the project to make it a success.”

The project was commissioned by the council in March 2016 to run alongside the Chesil Extra-Care Scheme development that will provide 52 flats with a mix of one- and two-bedroom accommodation for elderly residents in Winchester.

It follows a similar project called ‘A Postcard for Stanmore’ which proved a great success.

Each of the designs is approximately 1.9m high by 3m wide so that they can be seen by passing motorists as well as pedestrians.