Banksy shop featuring Stormzy stab vest appears in Croydon - BBC News
Stormzy's stab vest and a cradle surrounded by CCTV cameras appeared overnight at a shop in London.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.

Elusive artist Banksy has set up a shop in south London featuring the stab vest he designed for Stormzy's headline act at the Glastonbury Festival.

A Tony the Tiger rug and a cradle surrounded by CCTV cameras are also on show as part of the venture, at a disused retail outlet in Croydon.

"I'm opening a shop today," the artist said on Instagram. "Although the doors don't actually open."

Banksy said he was going to sell products online and people could visit the shop for the next two weeks.

Items that will be available to buy are on display in Croydon

He added he was being "forced" to launch the online shop - called Gross Domestic Product - because a greeting cards company was attempting to legally trade using his name.

The artist is being advised that opening a shop which sold his merchandise would help him protect the trademark on his art.

In a statement, Banksy said: "A greetings cards company is contesting the trademark I hold to my art, and attempting to take custody of my name so they can sell their fake Banksy merchandise legally.

"I think they're banking on the idea I won't show up in court to defend myself."

The exhibition has been called Gross Domestic Product

The grime artist is from Croydon

Items being sold in the shop include welcome mats made from life vests salvaged from the shores of the Mediterranean, which have been hand-stitched by women in detainment camps in Greece.

There are also disco balls made from police riot helmets and a toddler's counting toy where children are encouraged to load wooden migrant figures inside a haulage truck.

Banksy said proceeds would go towards buying a new migrant rescue boat to replace one allegedly confiscated by Italian authorities.

He said despite trying to defend his artistic rights in this particular case, he had not changed his position on copyright.

"I still encourage anyone to copy, borrow, steal and amend my art for amusement, academic research or activism. I just don't want them to get sole custody of my name."

Rats often appear in Banksy's work

Tony the Tiger, a character used on a cereal box, is depicted as a rug

It comes as one of Banksy's paintings which shows the House of Commons packed with chimpanzees is set to be auctioned at Sotheby's on Thursday.

Kevin Zuchowski-Morrison, owner of street art gallery Rise, said: "It's incredible that we have this work, very clearly the work of a very famous artist who we all kind of love. It couldn't be any more authentic."

This Instagram post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original content on Instagram The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip instagram post by banksy This article contains content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Meta’s Instagram cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

A Banksy collector who came to see the display, said: "It's brilliant. So good that it's happening.

"I doubt he (Banksy) will turn up and go 'hello lads, how are ya?' But he's obviously around."

John, another Banksy enthusiast, who is on holiday in the UK from the United States, said: "It has all the earmarks of Banksy's work.

"It's graphic, it's cheeky, it's intelligent."

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.