The Lafarge cement factory chimney is to be turned into a giant arts installation in time for the Olympics.

Avant garde Finnish artist Oli Froapl, who is best known for turning a disused slag heap in his home town of Egjokbi into a large block of cheese, will mount eight giant neon lights running the length of the 400ft disused chimney to glow at night. It is expected they will be able to be seen 30 miles away.

Mr Froapl, 53, said: “The lights will symbolise man’s eternal struggle to comprehend the universe, even though he may have difficulty in accepting what he sees before him. Life can be one big joke.”

He said the colours of the neon tubes, manufactured at the Yumusbemad factory in Helsinki, have yet to be decided but the public can have their say on what they should be on his website, www .hadja.com The lights will be switched on at a ceremony at the Westbury White Horse on the day of the opening ceremony of the Olympic games.

Lumberjacks will be flown in from Finland to scale the chimney and install the lights. Mr Froapl hopes the lights will be powered by a new government initiative to build heated wind turbines in the countryside. “I’ve been to Westminster and they are talking hot air,” he said.