Banksy 'Spraycation' mural removed by council over 'local sensitivities'

Artwork was displayed a short distance from where a toddler died in 2018

Banksy has said he was behind 10 pieces of street art that appeared across England's east coast this month. PA

An artwork featuring a seagull, believed to be created by Banksy, is seen in Lowestoft. Peter Nicholls / Reuters

A stencil of children posing as sailors on the wall of a bridge in Nicholas Everitt Park, Lowestoft, was among the new pieces.

This artwork depicting people dancing above a bus stop in Great Yarmouth is already attracting the attention of passers-by.

A man and his dog walk past an image of a girl making a sandcastle with a crowbar in Lowestoft, a mural very much in the style of Banksy.

Another new image at North Beach in Lowestoft.

A couple take a selfie below a new artwork in Gorleston-on-Sea.

Another Banksy at Merrivale Model Village? If the artist was behind the eight murals that appeared in eastern England, he has certainly been keeping busy.

An artwork by Bristol street artist Banksy has been removed from a town in the east of England by the local council.

This month, a work that depicted a man propelling a young child on a dingy into the sea was discovered near the beach at Gorleston-on-Sea, a resort town on the Norfolk coast.

The mural was one of 10 works that appeared across the east coast of England as part of Banksy's "Great British Spraycation".

But the local council has now painted over the mural owing to "sensitivities" about the location and out of respect to "local people and feelings".

The artwork was created a short distance from where three-year-old girl Ava-May Littleboy died in 2018.

Ava-May, from Suffolk, England, was playing on an inflatable trampoline when it exploded. She died from a head injury.

Her father, Nathan Rowe, posted a message on Facebook that said the artwork "could only have been done with the best of intentions and not intended to upset anyone".

"In light of the tragic fatality of a child in 2018 which involved an inflatable not far from the yacht pond at Gorleston, the illustration at that location has been removed," a Great Yarmouth Council spokesman said.

"Council operatives, acting in good faith, and aware of the local sensitivities, arranged for it to be covered over as part of their normal inspection and maintenance regime of the yacht pond.

"We thank Banksy for all the wonderful artwork and fully appreciate these circumstances would not have been known by the artist."

It said it was confident the work could be replicated and "placed in a more suitable, alternative location".

The new works appeared near seaside towns this month as the holiday plans of millions of people in the UK were ruined by the coronavirus pandemic.

The other murals included a rat lounging in a deckchair, sipping a drink. Near by, a giant seagull is seen pouncing on the contents of a skip made to look like a packet of chips.

In another work, a mechanical claw dangles above a public bench – as if anyone who sits there is about to be plucked up like a prize in an arcade game.