Lowestoft: Banksy skip removed over fly tipping risk

A skip has been removed from below the gull mural in Lowestoft, which appeared in August 2021

A skip that was part of a Banksy artwork has been removed by a property owner over fears it encouraged fly-tipping.

The gull mural on the side of a house in Lowestoft, Suffolk appeared as part of the artist's Great British Spraycation in August 2021.

It was painted next to a skip containing yellow strips of insulation to create the impression of a bird stealing chips, but the container has been taken away after the "chips" were mysteriously removed.

East Suffolk Council said it had "at no point enforced the removal of the skip component".

The mural was originally painted next to a skip containing strips of insulation to represent chips

The insulation strips in the skip created the impression of a bird stealing chips

The mural, painted on the side of a house on the corner of Denmark Road and Katwijk Way, was one of three painted in Lowestoft as part of the street artist's Great British Spraycation collection across Norfolk and Suffolk.

The council previously said the artist's visit had a "hugely positive cultural and economic effect in East Suffolk".

Many of the surviving pieces have been protected by UV-stabilised polycarbonate screens to prevent them fading with exposure.

Shortly after the mural appeared, the council covered it with a screen made from UV-stabilised polycarbonate

The council said the "initial artwork utilised the skip to tell a story" but the insulation boards that represented the chips "were removed by an unknown party last year".

"The skip has unfortunately been used ever since as a place to dump rubbish of any kind, encouraging fly-tipping," a spokesman said.

“Having funded the installation of protective screens at the site and [having] continued to support the artwork’s maintenance, we have been in discussions with the [property] owner about the issues with fly-tipping and the general appearance of the site and he has now taken the decision to remove the skip."

The council said it was "now in safe storage".

East Suffolk Council said it was not the authority's decision to remove the skip

A spokesman added: “It is a great shame that the original meaning of the artwork was lost when the chips were stolen - but we know that Banksy has a history of producing dynamic artwork which does not always stay in its original form.

"While we do everything we can, within reason, to protect and maintain his pieces, sometimes it simply isn’t possible.”

The council said it did not believe the skip was there before the mural was painted - but could not confirm this.

The mural, minus the skip, still stands on the corner of Denmark Road and Katwijk Way in Lowestoft

Banksy commentator, Prof Paul Gough, principal and vice chancellor of Arts University Bournemouth, said: "I think Banksy would argue that once the work goes into the public domain it has to withstand the trials and tribulations of any public artwork.

"The skip was a vital contextual component but at least the painting remains and is still a marvellous memory of Banksy's creative interventions along the eastern seaboard.

"It also lives on in media reportage, in 1000s of photographs posted online, and in the fabric of social memory - all significant achievements for any public artwork."

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