Rail workers paint over Banksy art

Once a guerrilla artist, Banksy is now almost part of the art establishment, with his graffiti work fetching tens of thousands of pounds at auction.

But that didn't stop railway bureaucrats ordering the removal of one of his pieces near Waterloo station.



Workers from Network Rail painted over a set of doors to an electricity generator on which the secretive artist had sprayed a monkey preparing to blow up a bunch of bananas.

The piece could have been worth thousands of pounds but the job was so thorough the only part of the image still visible is a faint trace of orange wire from the monkey's detonator.

A spokesman for Network Rail have now said staff would show more artistic sensitivity in future: "We have now issued our maintenance crews with photographs of Banksy's work, so if they come across it, they'll recognise it for what it is. We will then try and remove it if at all possible and auction it for charity."