Banksy: Part of potential new artwork in Lowestoft removed because it was blocking drain

Part of a new piece of street art in Suffolk, thought to be the work of elusive artist Banksy, has been removed because it was blocking a drain.

The artwork, in Nicholas Everitt Park in Lowestoft, showed three children standing in a boat that appeared to have been fashioned out of a piece of scrap metal.

A spokeswoman for Oulton Broad Parish Council confirmed to Sky News that the metal boat part of the artwork was removed because it was “blocking the flow of the landspring drain”.

The new piece featured one child looking ahead as though out to sea, another child behind looking over their shoulder, and a third child leaning over the stern holding a bucket.

“We’re all in the same boat,” was written above the artwork.

But the metal part of the artwork was later removed, with pictures showing a man appearing to drag it away.

Meanwhile, another artwork has appeared on a wall on London Road North in the same town, depicting a child next to a sandcastle.

Banksy has yet to confirm the two pieces of art are his work.

The secretive artist raised more than £16m for health projects earlier this year with the auction of a painting offering an “image of hope”.

During the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Game Changer appeared at Southampton Hospital.

Banksy auctioned the original canvas and the reproduction of the work is still on display in the hospital.

Christie’s said the painting fetched £16.7m – a world record at auction for the artist – and proceeds have been used to help support health organisations and charities.

Game Changer was not Banksy’s only work reflecting the pandemic.

Last summer, the artist painted some of his trademark rats wearing face coverings on a tube train – which were later scrubbed off by cleaners who did not realise their significance.

Banksy also used the rats to present his own image of working from home.