Banksy art makes guest appearance

World-famous graffiti artist Banksy has tagged a Torquay hotel.

The Bristolian, whose identity remains a closely guarded secret, painted an image of a young boy drawing a robot on the side of the Grosvenor Hotel at Belgrave Road.

The 8ft-high piece of artwork was discovered by hotel manager Joleen Layman on October 4. She said: “It appeared overnight. I drove into work on the Monday and I thought, what’s that?

“My other half is from Bristol, so I have heard of Banksy, but I’m not that familiar with his work.”

Joleen said the hotel owners had been planning to paint the wall at the side of the hotel. But she stressed the new artwork was there to stay.

“We are going to board it up to protect it, and then get Perspex put over it next week so that people can see it.”

Banksy fan and active forum member Irene Hall, from Torquay, visited the hotel and confirmed the image is the real deal.

She explained: “He puts photographs of the images on the official website and the one from the Grosvenor is on there.”

The image appeared after the Street Art Jam session which took place at Paignton’s Lighthouse Music Hub. Irene said rumours were circulating at the time about Banksy’s attendance at the event, which celebrates graffiti and music.

The photograph can be seen on Banksy’s website at