It is 110ft long and 12ft high and its the biggest sign the Sussex Sign Company has ever dealt with.

In between showers, gusts and tides the company is applying the sign to the side of one of Hoverspeed's Fast Cats currently in Newhaven for a facelift.

The vessel is usually used on the Dover- Calais route.

Norman Mayhew, managing director of the Newhaven-based sign company, said: "We were initially asked if we could do the job in two weeks and that seemed straightforward but that time included the repainting of the ship which meant a lot less time for applying the new signs.

"We have had six people working on it in a series of shifts and we expect to finish on time."

One side has been finished and work on the other side starts tomorrow.