A COVERT antique cameraman, a prancing multi-coloured horse and a flock of runaways bursting through the perimeter fencing could all soon be gracing a prime spot on Hove seafront.

These stunning artworks are all in the running to become the first to take residence on Hove Plinth and have now gone on public display.

Seventy applications from artists across the country were submitted to a competition organised by the Hove Civic Society with organisers whittling it down to a shortlist of 10.

The first design could be sitting on the seafront plinth in King’s Esplanade at the bottom of Grand Avenue by spring 2017.

The ten will be displayed at exhibitions this month in the Jubilee and Hove libraries as well on the seafront site set aside for the plinth.

Public votes will help whittle down the 10 to a final three with the help of society members who will judge the feasibility, durability and costing of the proposed designs.

The final three artists will each be awarded £2,500 to make a small scale model of their proposal before sponsorship and funding is sought to complete the full-scale sculptures.

The project, inspired by the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, was launched in February, 2012 and has received more than £55,000 from the public.

The society confirmed that Sussex-based sculptor Philip Jackson, who created the recently unveiled Mahatma Gandhi statue in London’s Parliament Square, as artistic patron of the project.

He will be joining patron and former Hove MP, Sir Timothy Sainsbury.

The plinth, which was granted planning permission in 2013, is designed to host regularly-changing artworks.

Lead project manager Karin Janzon said she was “very, very pleased” with the response to the search for artists launched in March and the mixture of Brighton-based and nationwide artists.

She said: “There were four of us who all came up with our own shortlist of ten and we did have quite a few discussions about which ones we should include.

“We had a criteria we were working towards where works had to be creative, imaginative and respond to the location in some way.”

To donate money and support the Hove Plinth project visit justgiving.com/hovecivicsociety