ONE of the region's greatest ever inventions has been celebrated in a work of art.

Durham photography artist Sarah Pickering's 38m-wide poster celebrates the invention of the friction match by Stockton chemist John Walker in 1827.

The match was recreated by Dr Joe McGinnis of the chemistry department at Teesside University using Walker's original method and the art installation covers the length of Stockton's Castlegate Shopping Centre.

Dr McGinnis explained it was a struggle to create a match, which actually lit on sandpaper using Walker's recipe.

The chemistry professor said it was easy to make a match suitable for Ms Pickering to use to take photographs but went through about 80 versions before he created one that could be lit with sandpaper.

However Dr McGinnis said the invention was so impressive he is personally in the process of applying to the Royal Society of Chemistry for a plaque to be installed in Stockton in honour of the inventor.

He said: "I could come up with something to photograph, no bother, but it was much harder to create something to strike on sandpaper. Walker never patented the invention but he did sell them in batches of 100, so they must have worked. It was a major achievement."

The art installation is the second commissioned by the Castlegate centre, Stockton Borough Council and the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art and replaces a work by Gayle Chong Kwan which depicted landmarks from across the Tees Valley.

Sarah Pickering, who used to regularly visit Stockton as a child on family visits, said: "I hope I've achieved something that acknowledges both Stockton’s fascinating history and the development of a significant invention."

The original recipe for the match is recorded in manuscripts at Preston Park Museum in Eaglescliffe. The poster will be displayed for two years.