Before finding fame as rock eccentrics, The Bonzo Dog Doodah Band lived the lives of struggling art students.

Now their early labours of love have been unearthed to inspire a new generation of artists.

Paintings by group members Vivian Stanshall and Larry Smith are being displayed in a gallery at University College Chichester (UCC).

The picture created by singer, lyricist and trumpet-player Stanshall is called Speranza Regards Her Son. Drummer Smith's contribution is a work entitled Chaplin.

Both paintings were created while the pair were studying at the Central School of Art in the early Sixties. Now students from UCC's art programmes are flocking to see the works, which have been named Pictures Of The Month.

They were bought by former art lecturer, the late Sheila McCririck, in 1962 before the band had formed.

Curator Dr Brian Rigby said: "It was simply a case of Mrs McCririck being struck by some artwork she saw. Student artwork can be picked up very cheaply and, of course, if the artists in question become well-known you may hit the jackpot."

The Bonzo Dog Doodah Band earned themselves a loyal following with surreal and comical performances and songs such as I'm The Urban Spaceman and Canyons Of Your Mind. Between 1967 and 1969, they appeared as resident band on the television show Do Not Adjust Your Set.

They also featured in The Beatles' 1967 film Magical Mystery Tour.

UCC head of library services Scott Robertson said: "The paintings are a bit different, especially because of their link to music. They are both entertaining and oddball, as they represented the Monty Python of their time musically."

The band also included Rodney Slater, Roger Ruskin Spear and Neil Innes, who later worked with the Monty Python team on stage and screen.

Stanshall died in a house fire in London in 1995 but Smith, nicknamed "Legs", continues to paint and sculpt.

The artwork is being exhibited under the title Bonzo Dog Connection until mid December at The Otter Gallery at UCC's Bishop Otter Campus in College Lane, Chichester. The exhibition is open Monday to Thursday from 9am until 9pm, on Friday from 9am to 5pm and on Saturday and Sunday from 1pm to 5pm.

For more details, contact Dr Rigby on 01243 816000.