RESIDENTS of a quiet village say their neighbour, who drives old SUVs and sometimes goes to church, may be Banksy.
The identity of the world’s most famous graffiti artist has reportedly been revealed in an old police report after a drunken night out in New York.
There has been constant speculation over the years as to who the street art outlaw could be but residents of a village in the West Country suspect he may have been their neighbour all along.
To them, he is a middle-aged man who keeps to himself and reportedly lives in a large grade-II listed property with his wife.
He’s known to have a couple of beat up SUVs in the driveway, has a vegetable patch and chicken coup and has even been spotted occasionally attending a local Methodist church.
One resident told The Times that they know him as “David” and that his wife “often drives up and stops to talk to me”.
“I don’t know what most of my neighbours do for a living and I honestly wouldn’t know if he was Banksy or not, but if he is then good luck to him,” they said.
Another local revealed there had been previous speculation as to whether their community was home to the graffiti artist worth millions.
“I did look up a picture of Banksy when I saw him walking along the road and I did wonder if it was him, because they look very similar,” they said.
“I even said hello to him when walking past to see if I could get into conversation with him, but he only gave a little smile and kept walking on, very much keeping himself to himself.”
A third denied she had been gifted an original Banksy work in return for her silence, joking she “could have a new car” if that was the case.
Banksy emerged out of the Bristol art scene in the late 1990s and his identity has remained a mystery throughout his thirty year career.
The street artist’s stencil paintings are known for their sharp social commentary and have become incredibly valuable.
They have also amassed the artist a fortune of more than £35m.
But after decades of swerving arrest and keeping his identity secret, Reuters news agency has claimed they have finally discovered who he is following a three year investigation.
They believe that a man by the name of Robin Gunningham changed his legal name to David Jones – one of the UK’s most common – to avoid detection.
Under this new name he travelled to Ukraine where Banksy painted murals.
He left in October 2022 on the same day as Robert del Naja – a member of Massive Attack thought to be in the artist’s circle – with suggestions that Robert was actually the artist himself.
Reuters also found that the date on Jones’s passport matched the one on Gunningham’s documents.
It was previously reported that Robin Gunningham, a student at Bristol Cathedral School, adopted the name Robin Banks before becoming Banksy.
Even those who have parted ways with the famous graffiti artist, such as his former manager Steve Lazarides, have kept his name a secret.
Banksy has said nothing following the Reuters’ investigation but his lawyer Mark Stephens said he didn’t accept “many of the details contained within your inquiry are correct”.
The representative added that the report could put the artist in danger and would interfere with his work.
Gunningham was arrested in September 2000 after a Manhattan billboard for Marc Jacobs was defaced and he confessed, Reuters reports.
According to the news agency, police documents, a handwritten confession and curt filings from that time identify Gunningham as the vandal.
Gunningham posted bail for $1,500 and the felony offences were reduced to a misdemeanour charge. After a $310 fine and five days of community service he was good to go.
