Images of the Queen wearing a gas mask on mock stamps remain on display in a gallery while wrangles over copyright continue.

But managers at Artrepublic, in Bond Street, Brighton, have agreed not to sell any more of the digital prints until the matter is resolved.

They were told they had to take down the pictures, created by artist James Cauty, by the end of Friday because the Royal Mail claimed they infringed stamp copyright.

But the gallery claims the prints could not possibly be mistaken for stamps and should be displayed on the grounds of artistic freedom.

The parties are locked in an exchange of legal letters and while this continues the images remain on show and on the gallery's web site.

The red, blue and grey stamp pictures were on sale for £590 framed, £470 unframed and £1,650 for a framed set of three.

So far 100 have been sold, many since the threat of legal action by the Royal Mail increased their profile.

The gallery is taking names and addresses of prospective buyers and will contact them once everything is sorted out.

The images were created by Mr Cauty in the run-up to the Iraq invasion when there was talk of the re-issue of gas masks because of the supposed threat of Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons.

Andrew Milledge, marketing director of Artrepublic, said: "The stamps are an expression of Mr Cauty's feelings towards the action taken against Iraq.

"They are still on display in our gallery while our legal representatives correspond with the Royal Mail."

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "We are involved in an exchange of letters. We hope to soon get the matter resolved."