David Hockney, whose pictures helped revitalise Saltaire's once flagging fortunes, has welcomed its acceptance as a World Heritage Site.

And the Bradford-born artist believes Saltaire's success owes huge debts to the vision and values of its founder Sir Titus Salt and the late Jonathan Silver, the entrepreneur who breathed new life into Saltaire after buying Salts Mill in 1987.

Following the mill's purchase, Mr Silver installed many of Mr Hockney's pictures, turning it into a top destination for art lovers, before bringing in hi-tech firms Pace Micro Technology and Filtronic.

Hockney works that have been displayed there include one of a series of pictures of the Grand Canyon, itself a World Heritage Site.

The model mill village was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) earlier this month.

In a fax sent exclusively to the Telegraph & Argus from his studio near Los Angeles Mr Hockney said: "I am delighted that Saltaire has received this honour.''

He continued: "Thanks must go to Sir Titus Salt for planning his enterprise in a different way from other manufacturers in Bradford.

"He must have looked further ahead.

"The village and location were always beautiful - the edge of an industrial area so you always have the contrast between big open spaces and large buildings.''

Mr Hockney added: "By the 1980s it was a rather sad place. One was aware something had been and gone.

"I remember Jonathan Silver phoning me in LA to tell me he'd bought the mill.

"I didn't know how to reply but I knew he had energy and imagination, a good combination.

"He saw the beauty under the sadness, therefore some potential.

"He brought it back to life.

"He knew there was a harmony in the architecture, very rare indeed for industrial areas, even today.

"'Practical' men, it was thought, put beauty a few pegs down on their list.

"Obviously Sir Titus Salt didn't, nor did Jonathan Silver. A big lesson for today.''