ARTIST Thomas Gainsborough is renowned for his colourful paintings but his favourite shades are now definitely yellow and blue.Sudbury's most prominent ever citizen is the latest to become engulfed in the football fever currently sweeping the town.

ARTIST Thomas Gainsborough is renowned for his colourful paintings but his favourite shades are now definitely yellow and blue.

Sudbury's most prominent ever citizen is the latest to become engulfed in the football fever currently sweeping the town.

Residents in Sudbury woke up to a shock yesterday to find the towering statute of the artist on Market Hill, wrapped in the colours of local football heroes AFC Sudbury.

Pranksters put the yellow and blue banners on the statue to mark AFC Sudbury's success in reaching the final of the FA Vase competition.

A secret fan club, known as the Sudbury Inter-City supporters Klub(SICK), claim to be the culprits of the stunt to drum up support for the final.

Jewson League giants AFC Sudbury will appear in non-leagues football's most glamorous cup final against Brigg Town at West Ham's Upton Park on May 10.

SICK has now launched a campaign to get the town behind the team and to ensure a wide media coverage of the big event.

The mystery supporters club has now drawn up a list of potential targets to encourage people to join the yellow and blue march to London's East End.

The group is now threatening to put blue and yellow scarves on the Highland cattle that graze on Sudbury's water meadows and is also pour a non-toxic blue and yellow dye into the River Stour.

Other possible targets include local supermarket Roys of Wroxham, which SICK say is not Suffolk enough, and Sudbury bus station.

The latest prank is not the first work of the group. It claims it put a medieval curse on Ipswich Town two seasons ago, when the Portman Road side pulled out of a pre-season friendly with AFC Sudbury.

In SICK's latest news letter AFC Sudbury treasurer Brian Tatum is quoted as saying: "Unfortunately they are part of the game that the club tires to ignore, however their influence in Sudbury is immense. Although their intentions are good, they should be treated with the utmost respect, they tend to strike at any time."

Although now an avid fan, Thomas Gainsborough is now donning his more usual attire after town hall staff removed the banners from the statue.

Town hall spokesman Teresa Elford said: "This was a harmless bit of fun, which has given us all a good laugh. We are not being killjoys and have not taken them down because it was wrong, we just don't think they would survive until May 10. The banners will be kept here if the supporters want to collect them."