Homeowner in England abandons sale after Banksy work appears on house

A person photographs a mural created by British artist Banksy entitled "Aachoo!!" showing a woman wearing a headscarf sneezing and dropping their handbag and cane is seen on the side of a house in Bristol, southwest England. Photo: AFP

A homeowner in the western English city of Bristol has reportedly pulled out of the sale of her house at the last minute after a work by the mysterious street artist Banksy appeared on the side of it.

The owner of the house called off the sale a week before completion, her son Nicholas Makin told British broadcaster ITV News.

The price of the property is expected to skyrocket. Recently, street artist Banksy posted a photo of his latest work emblazoned on the side of the house, the artist's usual way of confirming authorship.

According to real estate platform Zoopla, a house on the street costs an average of £300,000 (RM1.6mil).

But buyers have in the past paid millions for works by the artist Banksy, whose real identity is still unknown but is said to hail from Bristol.

The work "Aachoo !!" depicts an elderly woman wearing a headscarf ejecting her false teeth while sneezing.

The house is at the beginning of Vale Street, thought to be the steepest residential street in England.

The steep angle means that in one of the photos published by Banksy it looks like the woman's sneeze has knocked over a rubbish bin and toppled the neighbouring houses.

Makin and his stepbrother have now protected the work with plexiglass, after it began to attract considerable interest from fans.

The homeowner, his mother, is now planning to calmly consider her next steps. - dpa