A Weston street artist has had his work preserved at a development in Bristol.

Weston Mercury: JPS artwork was carefully removed from the site at the old St Mary's hospital in Clifton Triangle Picture Darrel PurseyJPS artwork was carefully removed from the site at the old St Mary's hospital in Clifton Triangle Picture Darrel Pursey (Image: Darrel Pursey)

The piece by prolific artist JPS painted in 2016 just after the EU Referendum was initially mistaken for a Banksey and Perspex was placed over the work to protect it form harm at the former St Mary’s Hospital site.

Workman on site carefully removed the section of the wall with a disc cutter to retain the artwork ahead of the building’s demolition, which is scheduled to be redeveloped into student accommodation.

JPS said: “It would have not have been a cheap or easy job to remove this artwork and they even needed to remove the pavement to get it out,

“It was removed with full knowledge that the work was by me, which as an artist is a huge compliment as I’ve only ever heard of Banksys being retained before.

Weston Mercury: The artwork was painted at the site just after the Brexit referendum in 2016. Picture: JPSThe artwork was painted at the site just after the Brexit referendum in 2016. Picture: JPS (Image: JPS)

“I’m surprised they didn’t just ask me to come and paint another one as it would have been a lot easier.”