With the help of a £400 grant from the Dewsbury Area Committee, students from the college are to create art on the windows and within empty units in the Princess of Wales Precinct.

Two 'fine art for design' degree students will create colourful pieces in two empty shops – the former Jack Fulton store and the unit last occupied by Gemstone accessories, both on Longcauseway.

Adele Stephenson and Lauren Tyler have been picked by tutor Richard Gray, who said their work – which looks at post-1950s consumerism and figurative painting - was ideally suited to the context.

TWISTING

He said: "They will be looking at the kinds of imagery people would see in a town centre and taking the work they normally do and twisting it slightly for that context."

The second years always put on an external exhibition, which was in Crow Nest Park and Dewsbury Museum last year.

Mr Gray said if they could contact more shop owners they would like to work in more premises.

He said: "If this works and works well we may end up with the second year show being in the town centre. We could create a town centre art trail."

He said the college did a similar project in Halifax and the idea proved hugely popular, with many other artists coming forward.

They have also previously used the Black Bull pub in Market Place as a gallery.

He said: "The scale of this project is potentially much bigger. I think it's a great opportunity to take the work into the town centre and let the people of Dewsbury see it.

"There is a world of difference from making artwork in a studio to being in a goldfish bowl – people will see work being made on site."

He said though the students were initially slightly daunted by the prospect they were now looking forward to getting started.

Work could start soon and is expected to take two weeks.

The project is being led by the town centre management team, as part of their on-going work to make the town more attractive.

Other schemes run by the team include the In Bloom and Tidy Traders Awards which encourage businesses to look after their appearance.

Viv Edmonds, assistant towns' manager, said the idea had come about during talks with the owners of the precinct about filling empty units.

She said: "We were talking about how quickly we could get them filled because we don't like to see empty units. The owners are actually based in Ireland and they've seen it done in another town there. We're turning a negative into a positive.

"It's going to be fabulous. It would be great if we could get other owners involved to almost create an art trail. It could even draw more people into the town centre because it's an attraction."

Eric Ruddle, from Belfast-based precinct owners Ravenhill Estates, said it would add colour and vitality to the area and create a point of interest for visitors.

He added: "Of course it also provides an invaluable blank canvas for the students to not only be extremely creative in how they conceive and recreate their ideas on glass but it literally gives them and their college a 'shop window' to showcase their work in public. I believe it will be an extremely interesting visual concept for all and everyone stands to benefit. I wish the students good luck."