A Banksy mural which will be heading for Suffolk this year has been removed from the wall where it was created to save it from a "death sentence".
Art collector John Brandler, owner of Brandler Galleries in Essex, spent "a six-figure sum" to buy the artwork, which shows a girl hula hooping with a bike tyre.
The mural is due to go on display at as part of Moments, a contemporary arts exhibition, to celebrate the very best in modern British art, being hosted by Moyse’s Hall Museum, Bury St Edmunds, in association with Brandler Galleries.
The mural appeared on the corner of Rothesay Avenue in Lenton in Nottingham October.
Residents of the area have been angered by 65-year-old Mr Brandler's decision to remove it but he said it had started to form mould within its protective plastic casing. He plans to send it to Scotland for restoration before moving it to Moyse's Hall.
Mr Brandler said: "If I hadn't bought it and removed it, in two years' time there wouldn't have been a Banksy there at all.
"I appreciate the council were trying to protect it from vandals coming along but actually it was creating a death sentence for it.
"I am pleased I've been able to save it from destruction."
Asked if he had a message for residents upset by the removal of the artwork, Mr Brandler said: "Somebody told me it belongs to the people of Nottingham - no, it belonged to the person whose wall it was on.
"From what I hear they offered it to a number of organisations in Nottingham and nobody was interested.
"It's very easy to say 'we must keep it' - all right, you pay for it, you pay for the maintenance, the security, the insurance, the restoration."
The Moments exhibition will open on Sunday, May 2 and run for five months until Thursday, September 30.
As well as works by Banksy, it will feature art by Tracey Emin, and such cutting-edge artists as Damien Hirst, Kaws, Pure Evil, Connor Brothers and Rachel List.
The showcase will be supplemented by a range of workshops, live art demonstrations, artist talks and pop-up activities themed around the concept of ‘moments’ at venues around the town.
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