It looks like the Royal Mail's latest ploy to stamp out terrorism, but this iconic design won't be landing on any doormat soon.

The image of the Queen's head protected by a gas mask is James Cauty's artistic statement on the rise of the global terror threat.

His new limited edition prints, entitled Black Smoke: Stamps of Mass Destruction, sell for £350 unframed, for which you could pick up almost 1,300 regular first class stamps.

The prints are causing quite a stir at the Brighton art gallery which co-published them.

Mr Cauty, who is based in Sussex, is saying nothing, hoping the prints will speak for themselves.

The hand-signed, limited edition works measuring 56cm by 61cm are now on sale at artrepublic in Bond Street, Brighton.

Marketing director Andrew Milledge said: "It is a bold message he's putting across, providing a way to express what are probably a lot of people's views.

"But we're not taking any particular political stance on this - we're taking this as art and making it available."