A troop of gorillas will be taking to the streets of Norwich this summer as part of a charity art trail - but today one of them bade a temporary farewell to his fellow apes and boarded a train to London.

People travelling on the 9.30am Norwich to London service may have been rather surprised to see Boris the BID gorilla on the platform ahead of his journey to the capital, with two other gorillas also there to wish him a safe trip.

Decorated in images of the city and well-known Norfolk faces such as Jake Humphrey and Stephen Fry, Boris is one of 53 gorilla sculptures that are part of the GoGoGorillas! trail starting in Norwich in June and which aims to raise funds for children's charity Break and the Born Free Foundation.

For the four weeks before the trail starts Boris will be flying the flag for the trail at London Liverpool Street Station with the aim of encouraging the hundreds of thousands of people who pass through the station each day to come visit the trail and explore our fine city.

Boris is sponsored by the Norwich Business Improvement District (BID), and members of Norwich BID along with representatives from Break accompanied him on his travels.

Stefan Gurney, executive director of Norwich BID, said: 'Summer 2013 in Norwich is all about gorillas ruling the city and creating a stir of interest in impressive and impactful art work. GoGoGorillas! adds to the growing vitality of Norwich and Boris will be our ambassador in London in the run up to the event.'

Norwich University College of the Arts graduate Jenny Leonard, who created the design for Boris, said: 'I think it's fantastic that the gorilla will be placed at London Liverpool Street initially and I hope this will get lots of attention, and encourage people to visit Norwich!'

The GoGoGorillas! outdoor art trail is being delivered by Break together with arts and education company Wild in Art to raise money for both Break and the Born Free Foundation.

Visitors will be able to follow the trail in Norwich from Monday, Monday 24. Maps and a free app will be made available for people to follow the trail.

The project will culminate in an auction of the gorilla sculptures on October 3 in The Forum, Norwich. To purchase tickets email martin.Green@break-charity.org.

• Follow the project's progress at www.gogogorillas.co.uk

You also follow the project at @GoGoGorillas on Twitter, as well as on Facebook and Pinterest.