Take it to the Banksy! Nottingham beauty salon strikes it rich as Banksy unveils new artwork of a girl hula-hooping with a ruined bike's tyre on its wall

Street artist Banksy has posted a picture of a mural of a little girl hula hooping with a bicycle tyre on his Instagram account, ending speculation over whether he was behind the work.

The piece appeared on a wall last Tuesday on the corner of Rothesay Avenue in Lenton, Nottingham.

Now confirmed as a Banksy, the wall mural is worth more than the street's average house price of £214,280.

Sprayed in black and white, the tongue-in-cheek image sits just behind a battered bike chained to a lamp post with an infinity lock.

The bike is missing a tyre.

Surinder Kaur, 42, who runs the beauty salon next to the artwork, said the bike had appeared at the same time as the mural.

Street artist Banksy has confirmed that he is the artist behind a  black and white, the tongue-in-cheek image  of a girl hula hooping with a bike tyre, which sits just behind a battered bike chained to a lamp post with an infinity lock

Now confirmed as a Banksy, the wall mural is worth more than the average house price of £214,280 on Nottingham's Rothesay Avenue, where the work is located

'He brought the bike with him - there is one tyre on the bike and the other tyre is in the picture as the little girl's hula hoop,' Kaur said. 

She told the PA news agency that within hours, the council had rushed to protect the piece by placing clear plastic sheeting over it.

Vandals have sprayed painted over the plastic two or three times already.

'Everyone is very excited and many, many people are coming to see the picture,' Ms Kaur said.

'Everyone was confused about whether it was real or not real but it's an amazing picture, it's amazing art.'

Banksy's 'Devolved Parliament' - featuring the Houses of Parliament filled with chimpanzees - sold for £9.9 million last year, setting a new record for his work according to valuation website MyArtBroker.com.

Many of his murals have also been lifted from walls and sold, with Kissing Coppers - an image of two male police officers in an embrace on the side of a Brighton pub - selling for £350,000 in 2011. 

Lots of people have been coming to visit the mural. Pictured: Young people pose for photos in front of the new Banksy artwork 

The new mural by the elusive artist has attracted a lot of attention. It is not yet clear whether it will be removed and sold as has been the case with some of Banksy's previous works

Banksy posted an image of the mural on his Instagram account, ending speculation as to the provenance of the graffiti

Ms Kaur said she is renting the property and so will not be entitled to any money should the mural be sold. 

Ms Kaur, who has only recently reopened following lockdown, said lots of people have been coming into her salon to ask about the mural, but she is not yet sure whether it will create a boost for her business.

'Let's see - I'm not sure about anything right now,' she said.

In July, a coronavirus-inspired Banksy artwork appeared on a London Tube train.

A series of rats were stencilled around a carriage wearing face masks, sneezing or clutching hand sanitiser in a piece named If You Don't Mask, You Don't Get.

Transport for London swiftly removed the piece in line with its anti-graffiti policy, but said: 'We appreciate the sentiment of encouraging people to wear face coverings.'

This summer, Banksy used the sale of his artworks to finance a 30-metre motor yacht to rescue migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean into Europe.

Named after 17th century French anarchist Louise Michel, the yacht features Banksy artwork on its exterior.