A campaign has been launched against plans for a “horrible, meaningless” £40,000 wall mural.

People living near the Chef’s Corner bakery in Selby Road in Leytonstone, which is private property, claim they were not adequately consulted about the design before it was commissioned.

Waltham Forest Council has instructed Hackney-based artist Matthew Raw to complete a tiling design on the run-down wall.

The work is part of its Making Places initiative to spread art throughout the borough, but people have labelled the design “horrible” and “unsuitable”.

Ros Kane, who lives in Matcham Road in Leytonstone, does not approve of the idea or the way in which the authority has gone about making decisions about it.

She said: “There has been no consultation for this cold, meaningless design. Everything about it is not suitable.

“The Making Places scheme is meant to bring joy to people, but artists themselves hate it. The people living here are going to be appalled by it.”

She added that none of the panellists who decided on the design live in the area and that she believes the final design is being “imposed” on those living nearby.

Ms Kane claims her and her fellow campaigners even put Matthew Raw in touch with a Victorian script writer to try and “improve” the design, but with no luck.

She said: “Financially we need to worry about this design, has all £40,000 gone straight to the artist? There are much better uses for this money.”

The council’s Making Places scheme has allocated £40,000 to each of the borough’s wards for art installations over the coming months.

But in the Cann Hall ward, where Matthew Raw’s design will appear, Ms Kane says a petition has been started that already has 450 signatures protesting against the plans.

That petition states: “The current proposed design is not in keeping with the cultural and historical significance of the building. We want the council to put forward a new design based on real community consultation.”

Campaigners claim only three or four people proposed the Chef’s Corner site for the installation and have questioned why the design is to appear on the side of a privately owned property – they have called the situation “a mockery of community engagement.”

Cllr Paul Douglas, cabinet member for culture, said: “The Making Places project is about transforming an unloved spot in each ward in our borough into a location that residents can feel connected to and proud of.

“We’ve applied the same process for all of the projects: residents were invited to nominate a location for improvement and an open call was made for artistic submissions. These were judged by a panel including artists and council officers and approved by local ward councillors.

“Since being commissioned the artists at the Chef’s Corner site have been working with the community and inviting residents to workshops to create tiles for the art work.”

Cllr Douglas added that the Chef’s Corner project is expected to be completed next year.