FOR years he has challenged enterprising children to spot him everywhere from stations and ski slopes to medieval battlefields.But now Wally, with the help of book shop owner Martin Blackwell, has set his fans a new goal - to track him down amid Yarmouth's roof tops and chimney pots using the internet.

FOR years he has challenged enterprising children to spot him everywhere from stations and ski slopes to medieval battlefields.

But now Wally, with the help of book shop owner Martin Blackwell, has set his fans a new goal - to track him down amid Yarmouth's roof tops and chimney pots using the internet.

Youngsters from the town's St Nicholas Priory Junior School are this week painting a 50ft tall image of the children's character, complete with red-and-white-striped jumper, glasses and woollen hat, which will be put on the roof of Market Gates shopping centre, so that it will be visible from space and appear on Google Earth.

Curious shoppers yesterday gathered outside an empty unit in Market Gates to watch pupils start work on the red stripes, supervised by head of year three Emily Walmsley, who described the project as a “fun idea”.

“During the week, children from year three to year six will be taking part. They are all familiar with Wally and really excited about putting him on the map,” she said.

Mr Blackwell, who owns Books Inside, in Market Gates, said the creation of the giant art work was the start of a summer-long campaign based around the character from the Where's Wally book series.

In September, with the help of sponsorship from Enterprise GY, it is hoped to break the world record for the most number of people dressed in one place as Wally - the current Guinness Book of Records total stands at 1,052.

Mr Blackwell came up with the idea after reading about the latest world record while on business in New York.

He said: “My kids, who are in their 20s now, loved Where's Wally and they always found him before I did. I read about the record in the local paper on the subway and just thought, 'we could do better than that'.”

Wally outfits will be on sale for �5 in the town centre over the summer, a sum that will also give free entry into the record attempt.

Town centre manager Jonathan Newman said: “We are confident this wacky campaign will really catch the imagination and draw many people into the town centre, creating a real buzz and feel good factor about Yarmouth during the summer.”

Blob. Wally hunters will have to wait for Google's imaging equipment to pick him up - Google Earth pictures can be up to three years old.