Cheltenham Banksy house buy-out negotiated by council

The property's owner has until April 2016 to reinstate walls, a chimney breast and wooden floors "apparently" damaged in an "abortive attempt" to remove the artwork

A deal to buy a Banksy mural on a house near GCHQ and place it in "safe hands", is being negotiated by a local council.

The "Spy Booth" artwork, showing three figures "snooping" on a telephone box, appeared in Cheltenham last year.

The "unauthorised" mural was granted retrospective planning permission but has been repeatedly vandalised and with "apparent" attempts made to remove it.

The council said: "The first task is to achieve a value for the transfer which can be agreed by all parties."

In August 2014, holes were drilled around part of the artwork and a piece of wood tightly belted to the wall

The artwork appeared on the side of an end-of-terrace house in Fairview Road, three miles from government listening post GCHQ, in April 2014.

Since then it has been daubed with white paint, sprayed with silver and red graffiti, had people trying to steal it and businesses and communities fighting over ownership.

Last September in a bid to fix the damage "apparently" done in an "abortive attempt" to remove the Banksy, the property's owners were served a notice by Cheltenham Borough Council.

But with the authority now in "on-going negotiations" to transfer ownership of the property "into safe hands", councillor Andrew McKinlay said it had "postponed" further action.

"If this proves possible, the council will more easily be able to ensure the restoration and longer term protection of the Banksy," he said.

"It is not proposed for this transfer to be at the council's cost but the first task is to achieve a value for the transfer which can be agreed by all parties."

So far, the council has been unable to find a "reliable and realistic" price for the property but Mr McKinlay said if negotiations fail it would be taking "further enforcement action".

The council said "no action" had so far been taken by the owner in response to its urgent works letter and it now has the option of carrying out the work and claiming back costs