A building site is the setting for Brighton and Hove's most talked-about new art exhibition.

The largest collection of graffiti artists ever assembled in the UK descended on the city at the weekend as part of the Brighton Hip Hop Festival.

It took two days for the 120 spray painters to transform a 500-metre wooden fence into the country's biggest graffiti mural.

The once-plain boards which surround the New England Quarter development near Brighton station are now a gigantic free art gallery.

Hip Hop Festival organisers approached site developers for permission.

The skill and talent on display will amaze many who consider graffiti vandalism.

Graffiti artist David Samuel, 25, who runs the Rarekind graffiti shop and gallery in Brighton's North Laine area, said: "Paul Barlow, one of the city's top artists, saw these boards and knew it would be a great space.

"We spoke to other graffiti crews and they jumped at the chance to come down and work on this project.

"They came from London, Manchester, Ireland and all over the UK.

"Brighton is one of the best places in the country for graffiti art and it's great kudos to stage an event like this.

"The atmosphere over the two days was amazing and something very special has been created."

Small crowds have been gathering on New England Street to take in the eye-catching spectacle as news of the mural has spread.

The spray paintings are in a range of styles and each has a different theme or message. There is an anti-war piece, another about religion and one depicting characters from the TV comedy programme League of Gentlemen.

David said: "Like all art forms, graffiti is about what the artist feels or wants to say.

"Graffiti is tied closely to hip hop culture so a lot of the sketches involve that sort of urban street imagery."

It is a far cry from the "tagging" graffiti which blights our city and town centres and is a massive problem in Brighton and Hove.

The Keep Britain Tidy campaign says that type of "urban scrawl" makes people feel unsafe and adds to a sense of squalor.

David said: "Every one of the 120 artists who created this mural would have started with a spray can, going around tagging walls, myself included.

"My personal view is that people should stop pulling their hair out about tagging.

"So far the approach has been to try to stamp out graffiti, which is the wrong approach.

"We need a different strategy to tackling the sort of antisocial tagging that damages people's property.

"We need more things like this project."

David says youngsters are less likely to tag if they are inspired by the work of top graffiti artists.

Tagging has become an increasing problem in the city and David says that coincides with the closure of legal graffiti walls like The Moon, in Shoreham.

He added: "That was a spot for 19 years but now it is being developed. The same is happening down at Black Rock.

"What we need is a channel of communication with developers to allow us to use their boards for painting.

"We're saving them money by painting their boards for them and creating public art at the same time."

Chris Gilbert, development manager for the New England Consortium, said: "I agreed to this as long as there was nothing offensive painted and I am bowled over by the result. It is magnificent.

"Tagging is a problem for us because it is a drain on resources when we have to send people out to paint over it.

"This is definitely something I would consider for future developments as long as it is carried out in a controlled and sensible manner, like this."

Sue John, deputy leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, said: "It was most encouraging hearing the artists do not regard tagging as art and they are against it.

"This project was extremely well organised and safe and there is some very high quality artwork.

"I would encourage the artists to talk to our planners because there are some major opportunities coming up for a few more schemes like this to take place in the next year or so."

David, who says graffiti steered him away from a life of drugs and serious crime, said: "There is no skill in tagging but it was where I started.

"With the scene now and the quality of the paints available, a kid can get quite good at sketching in a short time.

"We just need to be able to give them the right opportunities and the space to experiment without them being criminals.

"Graffiti is art and it should be accepted as an art form."

Hip Hop Festival organiser Kevin Da Costa said: "I think we have already changed a few people's perceptions and long may that continue."