A MYSTERY graffiti painting in New Brighton has got locals wondering if it is the work of famous guerilla artist Banksy.

The image - painted on to a service switch box on the corner of Rowson Street and Victoria Road in the resort - appeared over the weekend.

Resident Kay Featherstone, who runs Cromwell's Restaurant in Irby, photographed it and then uploaded it onto her online Flickr page, with links to it from her Twitter site - and set the debate rolling in cyberspace.

The stencil shows a protestor throwing flowers - one of Banksy's works.

"I felt a bit daft jumping out of the car in front of lots of people, but it really caught my eye," she said.

"Is it a Banksy or not? I don't know - but it certainly could be!

"I sent it to the Banksy group on [online picture sharing website] Flickr to see if they could confirm it.

"They're a bit snowed under at the moment because he's got a big exhibition on in Bristol, but they've promised to try to get an answer either way."

According to Wikipedia, Banksy, whose identity has never been confirmed, trained as a butcher but became involved in graffiti during the great Bristol aerosol boom of the late 1980s.

His artworks are often satirical pieces of art on topics such as politics, culture, and ethics.