Banksy dinghy artwork to be moved from beach where girl was killed by inflatable

A Banksy painting depicting children being flung into the air on an overinflated dinghy is to be moved away from a beach where a three-year-old girl was thrown to her death from an inflatable trampoline.

Ava-May Littleboy died after she was thrown higher than a house from the exploding inflatable at Gorleston-on-Sea in Norfolk in July 2018, an inquest was told.

Banksy created a series of artworks in Norfolk and Suffolk in August 2021, dubbed A Great British Spraycation.

Among them was the dinghy painting by Gorleston Yacht Pond, showing a man swigging from a bottle while using a foot pump and looking the other way, as two children are propelled into the air on an inflatable.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council said the piece, which was covered up due to local sensitivities, is to be removed from its current location and will instead be displayed at a nearby museum.

It will be displayed in the reception area of the Time and Tide Museum in Great Yarmouth, making it free to view.

Council leader Carl Smith said: “We thank Banksy for all the wonderful artwork that he gifted the borough.

“While a lot of his work is designed for a specific location, in this case the local circumstances would not have been known to him.

“We have worked with the family concerned, and they support the decision to find a new, less sensitive, location for the work.”

Work on removing the painting is due to begin next week and is expected to take around three days, the authority said.

It is due to go on display at the museum this spring on a temporary basis.

The council is continuing to explore options for a permanent home for the mural to ensure it remains on public display locally.