Adverts painted directly onto the brickwork of shops and homes used to be a common sight across the capital from the late 19th century.

But the rise of billboards across the UK in the 1950s resulted in their decline and since then many ‘ghost signs’ across London have failed to survive due to bad weather, demolished hosting buildings or property owners painting over them.

A recent nationwide restoration project has helped salvage surviving examples of the hand-crafted signs including Catford’s Muirkirk Road butcher’s sign, the chemist advert above a present-day pharmacy in Inchmery Road and the famous Hovis logo gracing what was formally known as Sandhurst Market.

There are now calls for the ghost signs to be given more legal protection.

Sam Roberts, founder of the blog Ghostsigns.co.uk which led the History of Advertising Trust archive on ghostsigns, said: “I think that in general ghost signs don’t have any legal form of protection – one particular example I can think of is that a ghost sign was painted over by the landlord and property owners which caused uproar in the local community.

“What people don’t realise is that they have an artefact on their home or building which should be protected.”

But Catford resident Barry Lennox, of Scrooby Street, said the ghost signs make the area look “ugly”.

The 55-year-old said: “They’re hideous. You see people walk by and take photos all the time but you have to ask yourself why? It’s not art, nor is it part of our heritage. It’s just an example of one of the biggest periods of capitalisation this county has ever seen.

“It was a terrible time for us all and unless you had a plush five-bed house in north London you were in trouble. Why anyone would want to remember that period really is beyond me.”

But according to the housing market, having a ghost sign painted onto the side of a property can in fact increase its value.

Your Move’s London operations director Richard Waind said: “Anything that makes your property stand out from the crowd and more attractive to buyers would certainly make a property more saleable which can only have a positive impact on price.

“Old ghost signs are wonderful pieces of London nostalgia and in many ways are the ultimate ‘period feature’. And of course they make a fantastic talking point at your housewarming.”