It was one of the priciest art pieces ever to make its way in front of the experts on the BBC's Antiques Roadshow, and the sale of a Banksy mural is still said to be supporting a Bristol youth club nine years later. Part of The Riverside Youth Project, Broad Plain Boys' Club in Easton gained international attention when it sold a Banksy work with the artist’s blessing, after finding it on a boarded-up doorway outside.
Dennis Stinchcombe, who has been the club leader for 47-and-a-half years, was the first person to find the creation, which showed two lovers embracing while both are staring at their phones, but believed it was the work of vandals. He only discovered the artist behind the piece - entitled Mobile Lovers - was Banksy, after fans and film crews descended on the building.
It's understood that Bristol's elusive street artist was a former club member - and this was his attempt to help keep the project alive after a lack of funding meant it could be forced to close. Dennis later took the artwork onto the Antiques Roadshow, where it was valued at £400,000 but later sold for a reported £563,000 to a philanthropist.
