A 50-metre (164-foot) tall white horse was on Tuesday named the winner of a two-million-pound (3.0-million-dollar, 2.3-million-euro) public art commission in south east England.

The giant equine landmark, designed by former Turner Prize-winner Mark Wallinger and dubbed the "Angel of the South", will tower over the landscape at 33 times life-size in Swanscombe, Kent.

"This is a tremendously exciting project," Wallinger said of his design, which will be seen by up to 60 million people a year. "There was some very tough competition and I am honoured that the horse has won through."

Wallinger's winning design will now have to get planning approval with the local authority, which will likely take at least a year.

Although project leaders were unable to confirm whether the landmark would be completed by the 2012 London Olympics, they are hoping it will be seen as a symbol for development in the Ebbsfleet valley region.

Local planners are aiming to develop 10,000 new homes, offices, stores and other community facilities around Ebbsfleet International railway station, a key stop on the high-speed Eurostar train link to continental Europe.