Artist Julie-Anne Gilburt and actor Chris Ellison have rushed to become bricks in the wall of a major art project.

The pair will help a landmark hotel celebrate the completion of its painstaking £10 million facelift by contributing their work to a giant display by visitors and local residents.

The Hilton Metropole, in King's Road, Brighton, has launched a competition for the best brick-sized painting or drawing and has urged entrants to come forward. The hotel wants to gather hundreds of the "bricks" to build into a wall of art in one of its bedrooms.

The competition has been carefully designed as a unique way to mark the restoration of every brick in the Metropole's famous red facade on Brighton seafront. The scaffolding, which has been set up outside the hotel for many months, was finally taken down this week to reveal a gleaming exterior.

Hotel spokeswoman Katrina Jones said: "The work has been done brick-by-brick and that is how we want to celebrate it."

Miss Gilburt seized the opportunity to size up one of the bricks and gather some inspiration for her piece this week while Mr Ellison, who played Frank Burnside in The Bill, already has plans for his entry.

The hotel has set a theme of New Horizons for the contest and is hoping for entries reflecting its own fresh start.

Miss Jones said: "People can enter paintings based on the hotel or on Brighton or on anything else they choose. We want to keep it quite wide-ranging."

She said there would be five age groups in the competition: under fives, five to ten-year-olds, ten to 15- year-olds, 15 to 20-year-olds and over 20s. Entries will be welcomed from schools, colleges, art groups and retirement homes. They can be on canvas, paper or any other suitable material.

One winner will be picked in each category by Miss Gilburt and Anne Busfield, the general manager of the hotel, at the unveiling of the wall on Friday, June 1.

Prizes will include a two-night stay at any UK Hilton hotel, a family dinner for four and tickets to the Sea Life Centre in Brighton.

The unveiling will coincide with the completion of the refurbishment which has seen improvements to facilities throughout the hotel.

All entries should be sent to the Hilton Brighton Metropole, King's Road, Brighton BN1 2FU.