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Westminster City Council is threatening legal action after images of Australian cricketers Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke were projected on to Big Ben.

The holographic image of Australia's captain and vice-captain beamed on to the famous London building on Wednesday (October 27) evening carried the message "Don't forget to pack the urn" – a reference to the Ashes trophy that England and Australia will play for in the forthcoming Test series. The England team flies out to Australia on Friday (October 29).

Westminster City Council's deputy leader, councillor Robert Davis, told The Guardian: "The Palace of Westminster is part of a Unesco world heritage site, and it's both inappropriate and insulting for this important location and its buildings to effectively be abused in this manner. It's also a criminal offence.

"If an organisation wishes to display advertising on it, or any other building in Westminster for that matter, they should apply through the normal channels like any right-minded person with respect for the law.

"Although we've not prosecuted previously as such stunts are usually over quickly, we do feel now that enough is enough and we're considering legal action.

"We also fear that without taking a firm stance, this style of guerrilla advertising will only increase, particularly in the run-up to [the London Olympics in] 2012."

Cricket Australia was not available for comment but within an hour of the incident, the Australian game's governing body had issued a press release on its official website, highlighting the fact that the image had been projected.

It said: "An hour ago Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke sent a stark warning to English cricket ahead of the up-coming Ashes series by watching over London from the tower of Big Ben. Images of the world-class duo were projected on to London's most iconic building accompanied by the words 'Don't forget to pack the urn – bringontheashes.com'."

It is not the first time Big Ben has been used as a canvas for projected images, with TV presenter Gail Porter's buttocks famously the first in 1999. That, and other similar pranks, passed without prosecution from Westminster Council.