Bridlington's most famous resident David Hockney snubs council's plans to celebrate him

David Hockney has not responded to requests from Bridlington Town Council to grant him Freedom of the City (Getty Images)

Bridlington’s plan to honour its most famous resident, David Hockney, has fallen apart after the artist failed to reply to any of the council’s letters.

Hockney, who was born in Bradford and also moved to Los Angeles, now lives in the small East Yorkshire town.

He has regularly used the landscape in his paintings, some of which were shown at his blockbuster show in the Royal Academy last year, and has hugely raised the profile of the seaside town.

To honour the 75-year old, Bridlington Town Council proposed naming a gallery after him and giving him the freedom of the town. The former mayor Cyril Marsburg said last year that “we should capitalise on his fame here.”

Yet Hockney failed to respond to repeated attempts to contact him, forcing the council to drop the idea.

Nigel Pearson, chief executive of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, wrote to colleagues to say: “Unfortunately, we have not been able to obtain any response from Mr Hockney regarding the renaming of a gallery at The Spa or indeed in relation to the granting of the Freedom of Bridlington and I have to conclude therefore that this is something which does not appeal to him.”