Tottenham Fury as it Loses Last Banksy Artwork to Sincura Group's 'Cultural Plunder'

The north London area of Haringey now has no artworks by the famous mystery artist left on its streets following the removal of 'No Ball Games' by the world-famous maverick stensil artist.

Overseeing the removal from public view of the work was Sincura Group - a concierge service for wealthy VIPs. It plans to sell the work.

Earlier this year, the same firm removed another Banksy piece from Wood Green, in the same borough. 'Slave Labour' went on to fetch £750,000 at auction, after initially appearing for sale in Miami.

No Ball Games was removed legally by Sincura with the consent of the property owner whose wall it adorned in Tottenham High Road.

Sincura claimed that the work, which appeared in 2009, was at risk because of its position on the street.

But there was anger in the community at its removal without consultation.

Tottenham resident Keith Flett told IBTimes UK: "This is cultural plunder by stripping us of our cultural assets.

"Tottenham has the highest unemployment and is one of the poorest communities in the country. We do not have as much as others, and here is a company which comes along and takes away something which is much prized and much loved.

"They've decided to come in and take it from us. But it's legal, so it's hard to know what can be done about it."

Sincura pledged to hand profits from the auction sale to a charity. A statement said: "A number of attempts have been made over the past to deface the piece. [With] further concerns about its safety, the piece has been removed to be sensitively restored to its former glory."

Haringey Council was said to be privately fuming at the removal of the second and final Banksy from the borough.

A spokesman said: "We are trying to contact the owners of the building to find out more information."

Flett denied that the Tottenham community was guilty of failing to care for No Ball Games and was not confident that local residents would benefit from the sale of the piece.

"The piece was covered by a screen and was in a good condition. It was defaced by one individual - a fellow artist, who's done it to several works by Banksy.

"Nobody expects these pieces to stay in place for ever, but they were certainly not meant to be ripped off of walls and taken off for profit. There was absolutely no benefit to the local community from the sale of the Slave Labour piece.

"I have no confidence whatsoever that it will benefit the community. If they wanted to benefit the community then they should have left it where it was."