Although it might not be the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, it did take as long to paint.

But a mural in a village pub has been obliterated in a matter of hours – with a tin of paint.

Jamie Montgomery would not lay claim to being another Michelangelo but it still took him four years to finish the work depicting Nelson’s victory at Trafalgar on the wall of the Tudor Rose, Upper Upnor.

That’s as long as the great renaissance artist took over his redecoration job in the Vatican City between 1508 and 1512.

Sadly for Jamie, 59, his work did not have Papal protection when the stewardship of the historic Shepherd Neame pub changed hands.

A new landlord moved in and promptly covered it over with a coat of white emulsion.

That publican has since moved on, leaving the brewery’s interior designers to discover the artistic loss.

Mr Montgomery, from Kingswood Road, Gillingham is devastated by its disappearance. He said: “It’s like a slap in the face with a wet fish. It took me on and off four years to complete and was very popular.”

He estimated the cost of the work, commissioned by previous landlords Kevin and Joy Taylor, was between £12,000 and £15,000.

He added: “I did it because it was historic, with Nelson’s flagship, The Victory, having been built in Chatham Dockyard over the river from the pub. It was a talking point and people came from far and wide to see it.”

Licensees Graham and Deana Godman have taken over the Tudor Rose temporarily while a permanent tenant is found.

Mr Godman said: “We have had several art students and tourists coming here to see it. Unfortunately we have had to tell them that it is no more. It’s 50/50. You either liked it or disliked it.”

Mr Montgomery is now producing Dickens-themed artwork for Mr and Mrs Taylor’s new pub, the Gardeners’ Arms in Higham.