Chewing gum artist makes plea to save Millennium Bridge works

Ben Wilson: ‘Art doesn’t just exist in the hallowed walls of the Tate Modern, in museums. It can sometimes be hidden and magical.’ Photograph: Henry Nicholls/AFP/Getty Images

An artist who paints tiny pictures on discarded chewing gum has pleaded for his works to be saved after being told most of them will be removed from the Millennium Bridge in London as part of engineering work.

Ben Wilson, nicknamed “the chewing gum man”, has been painting on pieces of chewing gum trodden into the bridge since 2013.