A former Coronation Street actress has been chosen to paint three of Skipton’s flock of “art sheep”.

Jayne Tunnicliffe, who played Yana Lumb in the TV soap, impressed the judges with her “Coronation” sheep, a John Lennon sheep and a black and white “bone” sheep.

And, from the end of August, her sheep will join 22 others on a tourist trail around the town.

Inspired by the town council, the art sheep project is due to be launched on Saturday August 14, at Art in the Pen, at Skipton Auction Mart, and a week later the sheep will be placed at various sites around the town. Town manager Brett Butler said the Coronation Sheep – including a Bet Lynch head – was by far the most popular.

“I had no idea who Jayne was. She’d put ‘actress and artist’ on her form, but I hadn’t realised she’d played such a big part in Coronation Street. I thought she was probably just an extra!” he said.

“She’s obviously really talented – all three of her designs were first to be snapped up by sponsors.”

The Saltaire-born actress, who now lives in Cheshire, drew on her days in Corrie to come up with her designs, which are in a pop art style reminiscent of the 1960s. She collected the sheep last week in a Transit van and is expected to return them completed in a couple of weeks.

“I’ve no idea how she found out about the project, but we’re glad she did – her designs were fantastic,” said Mr Butler.

The “Coronation Sheep” has a Bet Lynch-style blonde bouffant and dangly earrings and is painted in the character’s familiar animal print colours.

Jayne’s second winning design is a “peace sheep” – with the head of John Lennon and All You Need is Love painted in a pop art style. The last is called Baa Bones and is a rather chilling skeletal sheep.

The Coronation Sheep has been sponsored by Skipton Building Society and will stand inside its High Street branch. The other two will both stand in Coach Street – the Peace sheep was snapped up by the Coach Street Consortium and Baa Bones by Parker Jeanes Graphic Design.

Jayne runs a jewellery and design outlet, Voodooville, at the world-famous Afflecks in Manchester. She studied art before becoming an actress and, as well as her role as Yana in The Street, appeared regularly on television with the likes of Peter Kay and Paul O’Grady.

She also starred in the BBC’s Clocking Off and created a celebrated “ukulele-playing strumpet” as stand-up comedienne Mary Unfaithful.

She has put on successful exhibitions of her paintings – many inspired by her days on the Street and featuring its main characters, including Ena Sharples and Elsie Tanner.

The sheep project is backed by Skipton Business Improvement District (BID) and each sheep has been sponsored by businesses and individuals.

Those commissioned by the council to paint the sheep will be paid £700 for each and their creations will eventually be auctioned with some of the money going to charity and the rest back to the council towards the funding of future projects.