TWO paintings that praise the work of the NHS have appeared in the New Forest - and residents are questioning if the art could be Banksy creations.

One of them that states ‘Thank You Care Workers’ was first discovered two days ago on Church Lane, Lymington, before the entrance to Solent Mead Care Home.

While another painting of a young girl holding an NHS balloon has been spotted in an alley near The Tins churchyard, also in Lymington.

Some residents have shut down ideas that it could be the work of anonymous street artist Banksy, with one suggesting the painter could be amongst the council.

She said: “At 2am this morning, I heard talking. I looked out the window and the council were painting the yellow lines [next to the painting].

“Maybe there’s a Banksy lookalike amongst them.”

But a spokesperson for Hampshire County Council said they were unaware of the paintings.

The art work has been discovered shortly after a Banksy tribute to NHS heroes appeared at Southampton General Hospital, to thank their work on the frontline during the coronavirus pandemic.

Resident James Wild suggested that the work could be another artist.

He said: “Rumour has it Lymington has its own version of Banksy. I think they have been done in appreciation of the NHS during the coronavirus crisis, and that they are in the style of Banksy but not necessarily by him.

"Some might say they could be him but I think they are done by a fan of his. Maybe by Lymington's own version of Banksy."

But another neighbour said he “doesn’t think it is Banksy”, with no pictures of the art work on the artist’s website.

Banksy is an anonymous street artist, vandal, political activist, and film director, whose art work has been active across the UK since the 1990s.