St Elmo's fish bar defaced

Some of you will have noticed that one of Askew Road's finest thickos thought they'd daub a red knob on to the side of the St Elmo fish bar recently. I presume it was a self portrait of some kind. The action followed the painting of a fantastic mural on the side of the shop, which the owners tell me has stood their for nearly a century, themselves having occupied it for the past 9 years.

A reader who lives in the area saw it and called the council, asking whether they could remove it. Sure, said our Council, but we'll have to paint over the entire wall, obviously. Yes, er, thanks for that. We'll call you. 

To the rescue comes the original artist, Will Impey, from an outfit called Any Surface Creative who is planning on restoring the side of the fish bar to its former underwater glory. Speaking at the time he created the mural, which singlehandedly did a lot to brighten up a dull corner of the Bush, he said this: 

” The mural was painted to add some character to the shop, using just shades of blue to assist creating a feeling of tranquility. I wanted to create a mural that would not impose on the area and can be appreciated by people of all ages."

It was, and is. And I think we can all be grateful he's prepared to come back and take care of it despite the best efforts of one of our neanderthal neighbours.