A 24 FOOT sign on a children’s nursery - created by a two-man company and a local artist - has beaten a number of big-budget, national advertising campaigns in a competition.

The giant mural stretches across the front of the two-storey Brambly Hedge Nursery in Northallerton.

It was created by mural artist Wendi May New and sign-makers Eyecathing Signs based in Richmond.

The mural depicts a large tree and animals inspired by the Brambly Hedge children's books, with the nursery’s large, wooden front door set in the tree trunk.

Eyecathing Signs, based in Richmond entered the sign in the British Sign Awards 2015.

It had been a huge logistical challenge and was so big it had to be put together in the industrial estate’s car park after the trading estate had emptied of cars after 8pm. The rest was cut by hand on-site to fit around the nursery’s features.

Company director Steven Smith said he was amazed when he learnt his two-man company was a finalist; up against major corporations with multi-million pound advertising budgets and teams of workers.

Mr Smith works with fitter Jim Pearson. They won a highly commended, coming runner-up to a sign which adorned Westfield shopping centre sites in London and Manchester.

He said: “We’re a company in Richmond with two staff and the rest of the room was full of companies who were talking about huge teams of staff and these enormous budgets. One had three depots and contracts for premiership teams and £8m worth of signage outside a building. I thought, 'we’re not meant to be here.'”

The sign had originally been the vision of nursery owner Sue Quincey, who said: “Wendi spent hours and hours and hours creating it, we would still be exchanging messages at 2am and 3am on designs.”