SPOOF rail travel posters mocking places including Keighley and Haworth are proving to be just the ticket with the public.

Sales of the posters, which artist Laura Nicholson admitted were produced as a joke, have rocketed.

New print runs were being reeled off this week to keep up with demand.

"It's been beyond amazing," said Ms Nicholson.

About 40 towns, cities and villages have featured so far on the posters, which are designed in the style of 1930s railway advertisements, with each carrying a slogan.

And more locations are being added all the time.

Keighley is described as "that scary place on the way to the Dales", while the Haworth message declares "it killed the Brontes".

Ms Nicholson said the posters were not meant to offend.

"The idea came about when we were organising a pub crawl and a friend kept making rude remarks about places!" she said.

"We made a few posters as a joke – I'd never done anything like it before.

"I printed out a set for the CraftLocker gallery at Elland and put one on Facebook, and it just took off – it was incredible.

"Orders have flooded in and I'm constantly adding to the range."

Ms Nicholson, 45 this week, said the posters were proving popular with locals in the featured places.

"I was at the Haworth Steampunk Weekend and they went down really well there," she said.

"A lot of the reaction has been from the places that I'm taking the mickey out of.

"But people in towns and cities that I haven't included so far are asking when they're going to be featured!

"You can only really poke fun at places you know, and I used to work in Keighley – and live just across the hill at Halifax – so am familiar with the town.

"I've come up with a lot of the slogans, but friends and family have contributed too."

Keighley MP John Grogan said he viewed the poster in the spirit it's intended.

"Being able to laugh at yourself I think is a good quality although sometimes in life it can be quite hard to do," he said.

"Then again there are the old adages that there is no such thing as bad publicity and the one thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about at all!"

And Worth Valley ward district councillor Rebecca Poulsen – who lives in Haworth – said if the posters were intended as a bit of fun, she didn't see any harm in them.

"If people treat them in the light-hearted way they are meant I can't see anyone taking offence – and she's spelt Haworth correctly, which is a positive!"