Banksy 'Spy Booth' near GCHQ preserved by millionaire for community

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jul/30/banksy-gchq-artwork-saved-millionaire

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A hugely popular artwork by Banksy, close to surveillance agency GCHQ, appears to have been saved after a local millionaire businessman stepped in to buy the work for the community.

There have been concerns that the work by the guerilla graffiti artist, dubbed Spy Booth, would be removed from the end-of-terrace house it was painted on in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, and sold off.

But on Wednesday night a stop notice expired which had prevented the building owner allowing the work to be removed. It was then entrepreneur Hekmat Kaveh vowed to buy the Banksy and make sure that it stayed put.

Kaveh, an educationalist and property developer who lives close to the piece, said: "Most works of art can be moved and still make sense. This one can't. It should stay exactly where it is. I am going to do whatever it takes to make sure the Banksy stays there."

The work, which shows three trenchcoat-wearing spooks equipped with listening devices surrounding a phone box, appeared on the corner of two residential streets in April. In June, Banksy confirmed that the work was his, instantly making the wall notionally worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.