People don't want Port Talbot's famous Banksy to leave Port Talbot - and neither does the building its housed in either it would seem.
Season's Greetings, which is in the widow of an empty shop unit in the town, is set to be moved 270 miles away to Essex - a decision which has sparked anger and controversy.
However, efforts to get the 2.5 tonne wall out of Ty'r Orsaf in Station Road have run into problems leaving the thought-provoking piece "imprisoned”.
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Season’s Greetings has been in the Welsh town since 2018 since it suddently appeared on the side of garage. It shows a child dressed for snow playing in the falling ash and smoke from a skip fire, which once spanned over two walls of the outbuiding.
The location of the artwork was described as fitting by many given Port Talbot's long documented issues with pollution.
The garage was bought by art dealer John Brandler for an unspecified six-figure sum, before it was transferred to Ty'r Orsaf, the site of the former police station on Station Road.
Despite a very brief opening to the public, the artwork has remained in the window ever since.
Mr Brandler had plans to create a street art museum in Port Talbot - with Season's Greetings being the main attraction. But in June 2019 he scrapped the idea - claiming he was turned down for financial help because "Banksy isn't Welsh".
He previously said he thought the situation was "so sad" and was a "missed opportunity" for the town.
He said: "The people of Port Talbot wanted it, it would have created jobs, bringing 150,000 people into the town and I wanted to include local businesses in the museum. A similar project was done in Margate and for every £1 made by the museum, £6 was spent in the local area.
"The people of the town who we met were kind and genuine and welcoming and wanted it to happen and Pobl (the letting agency) gave us the building and did everything they could to make it happen."
And he claimed: "I was going bring an international museum to Port Talbot that and they didn't want it because Banksy isn't Welsh".
He also derided the way in which Season's Greetings had been displayed.
"When you think of where it is now, you have to go up close to be able to see the piece because of the reflection, it took nine months of nagging the council to even put a sign on the window saying Banksy's art is here," he said.
"That's not what artists create for. Artists don't create art for it to be unseen. They put their passion into painting something.
He has since found a new home for Season's Greetings in England at the University of Suffolk - but that move may now have to wait until the issue with getting it out of the building is solved.
Mr Brandler, who is from Essex, said: “I assembled a team to move it, remove the windows, cranes to lift it and wheels to move it to the University of Suffolk in Ipswich.
“The council did everything they could to help. I can not remove the window – which means the Banksy is trapped and imprisoned in the building.”
Mr Brandler had been given until the end of the temporary arrangement on January 14 to move the artwork.
The University of Suffolk has declined to comment on the planned move.
