Anger over Bin Laden advert image

Supporters said the altered adverts were there for people to enjoy Enlarge Image

Advertising bosses have criticised "artists" who have placed a 10ft (3.1m) image of Osama Bin Laden dressed in a cat suit on a billboard in Hove.

The so-called "subvertisers" have put his picture over an image of the New York skyline, for artistic and political reasons.

The Outdoor Advertising Association said it was a bizarre form of graffiti which amounted to theft.

But supporters of the practice said advertising was "visual pollution".

'Fairly smug'

Jai Redman, creative director of the Ultimate Holding Company art collective, said: "There's no difference between a subvertiser going out and an advertiser going out and putting their message on the walls, other than the fact that one of them has a bigger cheque book than the other."

He said: "It is criminal damage but it doesn't necessarily in my eyes make it a bad thing.

"People want to have a bit of fun and liven up people's day. Go down and have a look at it and if it makes you chuckle then I think that's a good thing."

But Alan James, of the advertisers' association, said the people responsible were "fairly smug about this whole thing and think themselves to be really witty and clever".

He added: "They're showing a blatant disregard for the rights of others. What they're doing is trespassing, vandalising and using someone else's property."

Owners of the billboard, Clear Channel, have declined to comment.