DAZZLING hoardings in the style of a First World War battleship’s camouflage have been installed outside a York development site.

The hoardings are intended as an anniversary tribute to a British marine artist, Norman Wilkinson, who developed the design, said builder Michael Hammill of Yorbuild Ltd, who has installed the artwork at the front of 79 Fulford Road.

“Unlike other forms of camouflage, the intention of dazzle was not to conceal but to make it difficult to estimate a target’s range, speed, and heading,” he said.

“Norman Wilkinson explained in 1919 that he had intended dazzle primarily to mislead the enemy about a ship’s course and so to take up a poor firing position.

“Our clients commissioned the artwork. It will be interesting to see the public’s comment and York Council’s reaction. It is, of course, on private land, privately financed and temporary.”

The site has been at the centre of a lengthy planning wrangle over a disused former children’s nursery, where there is a facade of stone arches which once formed part of the entrance to York Theatre Royal.

Heritage campaigners raised concerns earlier this year over an application to demolish the arches, which were designed by John Harper in 1834 and moved to their current home when the theatre was remodelled in 1879.

Mr Hammill said yesterday the arches were now supported by scaffolding and would be retained and restored, while the buildings behind had been mostly demolished.

He said proposals to build nine new homes and a neighbourhood cafe on the site -including the conversion of a coach house at the rear of the site - were still under consideration by planners.

But he revealed that plans to create an access road from Fulford Road had been withdrawn following opposition by council highways experts, and a ‘refreshed’ application made for one from Howard Street, off Fulford Road.