A spectacular new mural adorns a wall at the amusements in Beachfields Park, Sheerness.

The huge painting depicts a beached and sulky-looking mermaid with her hand poised on a detonator to blow-up the SS Richard Montgomery out at sea.

It carries a message which reads: “Welcome to Sheerness - You’ll have a blast.”

The stunning image was produced by artist Dean Tweedy, who runs Marvellous Murals in Milton.

It was completed in four days to coincide with the Promenade Festival’s “Monsters, Myths and Mermaids” theme at the weekend.

Dean said: “It’s something I’ve been wanting to paint for ages.

“I wanted a saucy postcard-type look, but as the mermaid was sitting on a huge amount of explosives, I didn’t want her all smiley - she looks quite aggressive.”

In the hunt for a model for his half-fish/half-female character, Dean said he put word out via Facebook and at the mural site.

Ten hopefuls arrived at Beachfields on Friday , with Islander Carrie Stacy, 22, selected to pose as the mural’s human face, because according to Dean, “she looked like she had the right attitude”.

The artist said his mural had elicited “a few ‘wows’ and a few chuckles, which is just what I was looking for”.

He said there was a hint of a serious message behind the humour. The 46-year-old said: “I wanted to raise awareness of the Montgomery because it’s a potential danger. It should’ve been dealt with ages ago but never was.”

Asked if the picture might be thought alarmist by some, Dean said: “People on Sheppey like to live a bit dangerously.”