SHOPPERS in Emery Gate, Chippenham, will find themselves in the middle of an art gallery on Saturday.

The shopping centre will be the venue for the opening exhibition in the Art For Alzheimer's project.

Local artists have donated a large selection of pictures, which will be sold in aid of the North Wiltshire Branch of the Alzheimer's Society.

Organiser Jeff Gibbons, of St Margaret's Gardens in Chippenham, said: "This appeal is gathering more and more support from local artists and we are now able to offer the large selection of pictures for sale on an on-going basis until the end of June."

Saturday's exhibition will run from 9am to 4pm, and the pictures will be offered for sale on a no-reasonable-offer-refused basis.

Almost the entire collection will be original paintings or prints, with contributions from artists such as Graham Cox and Patricia Lodge.

Next week the pictures will be exhibited in an empty shop in Corsham High Street, courtesy of Butfield Breach.

Then the pictures will return to Emery Gate for June 8.

This is the first Art for Alzheimer's charity event Mr Gibbons has organised, though he has helped co-ordinate other art exhibitions.

"We are keeping our fingers crossed we will raise a substantial amount of money," he said. "We will try and sell everything during the appeal."