I was speaking to a guy from Brighton who is a friend of a friend this weekend. He had come up to Manchester and we were discussing Banksy. The pub in question belongs to one of his best mate's dads... The original kissing coppers has been removed and sold on by the pub.

I've spoken to Chris (the landlord) and it has been removed and sold. The Kissing Coppers has been on the side of the pub for over 5 years and they have tried to protect the original to the best of their abilities for the the enjoyment of the public for all of this time.
In the end the piece had been restored to such an extent that Chris felt that if someone was still willing to pay for it, he would be silly not to sell and put the money towards better things than the massively increased insurance premiums that come from having a Banksy original on the side of your pub.

The money earned (he won't give me the exact figure but I know it's nowhere near some of the figures that people have speculated) is being spent on the pub. Some of it will be used to commision new artworks in the pub garden, toilets and on the side of the pub.

I've known Will the bar manager at the Albert for over 18 years and Chris for about 8. They are genuine, honest people. I understand their motives and I'm sure that some good will definately come from the money that can be spent further art in the garden.

If anyone is interested in doing a piece for the garden please PM me.

If true (and this is the argus we're talking about) that's absolutely retarded!!

It's not even the original piece - which was badly vandalised a couple of years ago then completely repainted.

er im pretty dam sure i drove past it yesterday.

The 'Kissing Coppers' on the side of the 'Prince Albert' in Brighton was indeed repainted on several occasions. Chris who owns the pub spent 5 years trying to protect the peice from being tagged and had it retouched on several occasions by Rarekind. Eventually the cost of trying to protect the piece and the rest of his property from taggers and Banksy haters became uneconomic and he was made an offer for the peice that he couldn't refuse. He didn't just pocket the money but put it back into the venue in the form of new stage, sound system etc... The Albert is an important independent venue in Brighton which puts a lot of effort into supporting new and upcoming local bands. The figure that has been floated is £50K for the already damaged piece of graffiti. One of the conditions he made was that the 'Kissing Coppers' was replaced with a replica and it has never been a secret that since 2007/08 it has been a replica . Chris has also commisioned other peices of work by SNUB and REC on the side wall of the pub.... bear in mind that the pub is a grade II listed building and Chris can be fined by the council for not removing graffiti and that Brighton Council have previously had a habit of just turning up and painting over graffiti with various odd shades of mismatching paint, the original Banksy lasted at least 5 years... which in general a pretty good run for a Banksy. There are a lot more in Brighton that were just painted over.

I can't link from my phone but No Walls on facebook has photos of what could be a new Kissing Coppers in Brighton....

April Fools?

I lived in brighton for 5 years from 99 to 2004.

Hippy,,

You should be ashamed !!

Is it a publicity stunt you blue guys??

I can smell the dodgy

Tin foil hat on brother !!
Tin foil hat on