British artist's creation cleaned away by council which comm

British artist's creation cleaned away by council which commissioned it
LONDON (AFP) - A British local council commissioned work from a local artist to brighten a pedestrian subway before mistakenly cleaning it off later the same day, thinking it was illegal fly-posting, a report said Thursday.

Artist Tom Bloor spent nine hours pasting a collage of colourful pop art-style posters onto the subway in Birmingham, central England, as part of a visual arts festival in the city, the Daily Telegraph reported.

The work was created with the blessing of the city council, which promptly forgot to inform its cleaning division.

After a complaint from a local resident, council cleaners ripped down the still unfinished artwork in the belief the posters were illegal advertising flyers.

"When I saw my work in tatters I was pretty horrified. The work is only due to be in place for six weeks because of the likelihood of it being vandalised," Bloor was quoted as saying.

"I never thought that the council would vandalise it before I even had a chance to finish it."