Lighthouses in place for summer art trail

The painted lighthouses arrived in Southampton early on Friday

Forty painted lighthouse sculptures have been placed on streets as part of an art trail.

Light the South sees the 8ft (2.4m) lighthouses on show in Southampton and Cowes on the Isle of Wight .

They are each sponsored by businesses and decorated by artists to form a trail which can be followed over the next nine weeks.

The lighthouses will be auctioned off in September to raise money for Southampton Hospitals Charity.

The lighthouses have been placed throughout Cowes and Southampton city centre

The charity's Kate Saltrick said: "These unique and individually designed Lighthouses will take residents and visitors on a cultural tour of Southampton and Cowes all whilst raising vital funds for Southampton Children’s Hospital."

Schools have also been given the chance to design and adopt mini lighthouse sculptures.

The 30 mini lighthouses will be dotted along the trail alongside the larger lighthouses.

The free trail has been created by Wild in Art and the charity of University Hospital Southampton.

The city has previously hosted public art trails including the GoRhino trail in aid of Marwell Wildlife in 2013 and Hares of Hampshire raised money for the Murray Parish Trust in 2022.

More than 40 artists have created individual designs for the lighthouse sculptures