ONE of Banbury's most iconic pieces of artwork has been given a new lease of life after delighting passers by for 25 years.

For a quarter of a century the wall of Naomi's Cafe Bar in Bridge Street has been covered with its own unique brand of street art making it a firm favourite with customers.

But now cafe owner Naomi Perkins has decided to replace the artwork and create a new design for people to enjoy.

Miss Perkins, who opened up the cafe 18 months ago, said: "The original mural was one of the main reasons why I wanted to take on the cafe.

"I used to see it when I was little and my grandmother would bring me into Banbury, I was so fascinated by it.

"It's been here a long time and it had started to look very outdated.

"It was old fashioned, you could see gaps in the paint and street art has moved on a lot since then.

"When I took over the lease I checked with the landlord that I could change it, and he was more than happy for me to do so."

The previous design, which was funded by the Prince's Trust and created for the Bridge Bar youth club, was painted in a graffiti style.

The mural has been repainted by Banbury-based artist Jonny Arnold and Australian painter Cherie Strong.

They started work on their creation this month and are hoping to complete the new mural in April.

Miss Perkins, 30, added: "It is such a rare opportunity to paint something like this in your own town.

"The reaction so far has been hugely positive, although there have of course been people who have been upset by the change.

"We have had lots of comments on social media, some are sad to see it go and others are looking forward to something new.

"When we first started talking about the plans we had a lot more people come into the cafe to chat about it.

"The new design is moving away from the graffiti style and more towards the three-dimensional.

"There are also references to the cafe as well as the Edible Community Garden [in Bridge Street]."

Last weekend the cafe held an open evening where customers could come in and chat to the artists about their plans for the new mural.

But despite the popularity of the previous mural, Miss Perkins revealed it was solely down to the artists themselves what the new design would be.

She said: "The guys said that they would pick the design, so I've just been waiting to see what it is."