Civic Error

A Banksy spoof image of the Royal Family, painted on the side of a building in east London, was partially covered with black paint. Nice work, idiots.

The building's owner was in tears as she begged workmen to stop. By the time she persuaded them it was almost gone. Hackney Council said the image was painted over in error.

Property owner Sofie Attrill gave consent for the mural to be painted on the building so it could be photographed for the launch of Blur's 2003 single Crazy Beat. Since then it has attracted tourists from all over the world and become a local landmark. "We never wanted to make money out of it like many do - but it was a part of our lives. Now it's gone," she said.

"The workmen were smiling as they did it - they thought it was funny. I just burst into tears. But a crowd gathered and we managed to get them to stop before destroying it completely."

Hackney Council needed permission to remove the mural because it was on private property, but its letters were sent to an address Ms Attrill lived at 25 years ago. After receiving no response the council served an enforcement notice. The Council was initially unrepentant, stating, "The council's position is not to make a judgement call on whether graffiti is art," but he later added, "Due to a problem at the land registry unfortunately our letters stating our intention to clean this building didn't reach the owner. As soon as we realised this, work stopped. We are now speaking with her about how to resolve the issue."

All kinds of terrible art in the world, and they had to ruin one of the good ones? A shame...