The move is to deter vandals and show off the city's art collection

Brighton council said visitors to the city's coach station would now see a giant reprint of a painting instead of a rundown hotel in Pool Valley.

The original work, The Seaside by Alice Maude Fanner, is part of the art collection held by Brighton museums.

An empty shop in New Road now shows a print of a work called Brighton Front, by C H Burleigh, painted in 1920.

The idea for using paintings came from Brighton museum staff who were looking for ways to enable more people to enjoy the city collections, councillor Brian Oxley said.

It is like having an alfresco art gallery Councillor Brian Oxley

The council leader said: "Unfortunately plywood hoardings and rundown buildings tend to be a magnet for graffiti and vandalism.

"If people see premises looking good they are much less likely to become targets for anti-social behaviour."

The hotel in Pool Valley had created "a bad first impression" for thousands of people arriving in the city by coach, he added.

Artwork is being installed on empty and derelict buildings

And he said: "Brighton and Hove has a reputation as an artistic and creative city and this is an imaginative approach to tackling anti-social behaviour.

"It also helps to bring some of the art in the city's art collection to a much wider audience - it is like having an alfresco art gallery."

Other properties to have been transformed include an address in Lewes Road which now shows an image of a restaurant.

Premises in London Road, opposite St Peter's Church, now have a picture of the Royal Pavilion.