'£24.8m' taped bananas appear in village

The bananas have appeared in several places including this roundabout

Bananas have appeared taped to various locations in a village, in an imitation of an artwork that sold for $6.2m (£4.9m) at a New York auction.

Artist Impro, who frequently uses Sonning in Berkshire as a location for his work, claimed responsibility.

He said the sale of his "masterpiece" bananas would enable Sonning's residents to get a "new church roof".

The original work, titled 'Comedian' by Italian visual artist Maurizio Cattelan, was bought by Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun in November.

The original work, 'Comedian', was bought and later eaten by Justin Sun

Impro, who lives in Oxfordshire, said: "Enough of the japes and pranks! This time I have graced Sonning with bona fide, international standard fine art worth in total £24.8m at auction.

"The sale of just one of these masterpieces would be more than enough to get them their new church roof and to Sonningians [sic] I would say, 'you're welcome!'"

Previous works by Impro include a phone, postbox and door affixed to the side of Sonning Bridge.

This banana was taped to a wall out of reach of hungry children

He also installed a large, red Google Maps pin on A4155 Reading to Henley road in 2014.

His post box work drew international attention when it caught the eye of famous spoon-bender Uri Geller.

Mr Geller said at the time: "I have never seen anything like this anywhere in the world. It's a new one on me."

Another banana appeared stuck on a brick wall in the village