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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Council orders Banksy art removal | Council orders Banksy art removal |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| An artwork by street artist Banksy in central London will be removed to send a message to graffiti artists in the city, a council has decided. | An artwork by street artist Banksy in central London will be removed to send a message to graffiti artists in the city, a council has decided. |
| Westminster City Council has ordered a 23ft-high (7m) mural, entitled One Nation Under CCTV, to be removed from a building on Newman Street. | |
| The artist's sketches have sold for thousands of pounds at auctions. | The artist's sketches have sold for thousands of pounds at auctions. |
| But deputy leader of the council Robert Davis said keeping the mural would mean "condoning" graffiti. | But deputy leader of the council Robert Davis said keeping the mural would mean "condoning" graffiti. |
| The mural has the words "One Nation Under CCTV" stencilled above two painted people. | The mural has the words "One Nation Under CCTV" stencilled above two painted people. |
| One appears to be a child in a red hooded top apparently painting the words, while a police officer holding a camera and a brown dog look on. | One appears to be a child in a red hooded top apparently painting the words, while a police officer holding a camera and a brown dog look on. |
| The mural is painted on the wall of a building shared by Royal Mail and another business. | The mural is painted on the wall of a building shared by Royal Mail and another business. |
| If you condone this then you condone graffiti all over London Westminster City councillor Robert Davis | If you condone this then you condone graffiti all over London Westminster City councillor Robert Davis |
| The council said the artist did not gain the necessary permission, and once it has established who owns the painted wall the artwork will be removed by the owner. | |
| Mr Davis, who is also chairman of the council's planning sub committee, said: "I take the view that this is graffiti and if you condone this then what is the difference between this and all the other graffiti you see scrawled across the city? | Mr Davis, who is also chairman of the council's planning sub committee, said: "I take the view that this is graffiti and if you condone this then what is the difference between this and all the other graffiti you see scrawled across the city? |
| "If you condone this then you condone graffiti all over London." | "If you condone this then you condone graffiti all over London." |
| Mr Davis said the building's owner had "every right" to sell or exhibit the Banksy graffiti - as long as it was removed from the wall. | |
| "What we are against is people coming around without proper permission or consent and exhibiting their work without permission." | |
| 'Vibrant and interesting' | |
| Art critic Rupert Maas defended Banksy's graffiti, saying it made the city "vibrant and interesting". | |
| "He is doing something that is quite valid," Mr Maas said. | |
| "Here he is making a point that we are increasingly governed by CCTV cameras. I think it's great - good for him." | |
| Mr Maas added: "Of course he is not going to fill in a form and apply for permission. Notoriety is what makes Banksy exist." | |
| Banksy has created at least one other artwork in the borough, in an underpass in Marble Arch. | Banksy has created at least one other artwork in the borough, in an underpass in Marble Arch. |
| But that mural has not been removed as the whole area is being redeveloped, the council said. | But that mural has not been removed as the whole area is being redeveloped, the council said. |