As it rears its head from the depths of a Scottish loch, it is a work of art as surprising as any new creation by famed street artist Banksy.

At high tide, it lies completely submerged, hidden by the rippling waters of Loch Melfort, with onlookers oblivious to its presence.

However, all is revealed when the water level drops and a startling life size sculpture of a man, sitting in an old cast iron bath,comes into view.

The head is the first part of this new artwork to emerge, seemingly floating above the surface as the tide falls. Then the full man-in-a-bath scene gradually floats into view, followed by the realisation that this artistic creation is actually sitting on the rocks - a scene only visible at low tide.

Local artist Ruaridh Litster-Campbell, who made a mould of his face, hands and feet for the sculpture, said the work is hard to see because of its location and its disappearance at high tide.

However, kayakers and paddle boarders are now beginning to spread the word, while locals around Loch Melfortquickly guessed who put the surprise artwork there because of the facial likeness to its creator.

Mr Litster-Campbell, 23, who lives at Arduaine, beside the Argyll loch, said: "It has been an idea, a joke, for sometime, then when I came home before lockdown it was a good excuse to just do it. It's on a tidal rock called the Brown Horses which used to have a pole as a marker but that fell offyears ago and we just decided to stick something there."

He said that planning the piece and how to get it on to the rock had taken up more time than actuallycreating it.

He added: "The original idea was to do a complete life cast but in the end it was a lifecast of my hands,feet and head. I used alginate, similar to what dentists use, to cover my face and the back of my headto make a mould and covered it with cement. The body is like a steel frame with wire and thick cement and it's in an old cast iron bath so it's pretty heavy.

"You can't lift him, and we had an old bath outside so we put it in that and named the piece the 'bathman' ."

Bathman, which some say is like an Antony Gormley sculpture, was moved to the rocks by Mr Litster-Campbell and his father Mike but the family is remaining tight lipped about how they managed to get the piece in situ on the rocks. All Mr Litster-Campbell would admit to was that they did have the use of a boat.

The sculpture has been in place about a month but the artist, who creates paintings, sculptures and jewellery, said it took a while for it to be noticed, because of its position and its disappearing act at high tide.

He said: "A couple of people spotted it soon after but you really have to know it's there. Some kayakers and paddle boarders have seen it, but it gets completely covered up at high tide and you really need to look through binoculars to see it from the view point at Loch Melfort."

The sculptor and artist is now waiting to see if his latest artwork survives the winter.

He said: "He is bolted on to the rocks but it's a strong current there, if he survives the winter I will be pleased. This is the first large scale piece I have done."

Calum Ross, owner of Loch Melfort Hotel, said: "The man in the bath has created a huge amount of interest with our guests and restaurant customers. Sitting on our deck having lunch, dinner, or drinks, customers have always enjoyed and marvelled at our magnificent views, but now there is an added dimension…can they see the man in the bath, or how much can they see depending on the tide and whether or not they have binoculars with them? Some have even taken their own photos with drones or from boats, kayaks and paddle boards."