A giant mural will brighten the journeys of commuters from Banbury Rail station.

Chiltern Railways and Railtrack commissioned local artist Nigel Fletcher to create a giant mural on the walls of the newly-refurbished station.

The acrylic painting portrays local people and horse-drawn vehicles outside the station as it was in 1852.

Mr Fletcher, a specialist in the artistic recreation of historic Banbury buildings, started work on a platform ten feet up, against the station wall.

The idea for the mural came from Rosemary Jones, the wife of former Cherwell Rail Users Group chairman Hugh Jones, after she saw a Victorian print of the historic station in a local newspaper. Mr Jones, who has been a rail passenger since 1946, said: "We are absolutely thrilled that the mural project is going ahead.

It is part of Railtrack's £2m investment, which helped 150-year-old station win the Midlands Station of the Year award last September. Improvements include a new passenger lounge.