Two pieces of art by the ever-illusive Banksy sold for thousands of pounds when they went under the hammer in Ely.

Ely Standard: Ely auction house Rowley’s sells iconic work by world famous street artist Banksy. Picture: ROWLEY'S.Ely auction house Rowley’s sells iconic work by world famous street artist Banksy. Picture: ROWLEY'S. (Image: Archant)

Rowley's Auctioneers attracted international buyers to their fine art auction, which saw 'Radar Rat' stencilled on a piece of white painted breeze block sell for £8636.

Meanwhile 'Missile monkey', spray painted on a 'caution site traffic' sign, made £3048.

The Ely auctioneers have sold a number of pieces by the 'unidentified' Bristol graffiti artist in the past, including a cardboard protest placard, from the anti-Iraq War demonstration in London in 2003.

Will Axon, senior valuer at Rowley's, said: 'Banksy of course has a huge following - his work is very graphically exciting, anti -establishment, and witty.

"His work makes us think, which is after all what any great work of art should do. Larger Banksy pieces are obviously beyond the sphere of most individuals and are increasingly been bought by big institutions.

"But these smaller works really represent a chance for collectors to own a piece of very exciting, desirable art.

"We have had a lot of success in selling other works by Banksy, and what has been particularly gratifying in this case is that these two pieces came from an area close to Bristol but the vendor choose to bring them to Rowley's because of our past successes."

Banksy began his work as a graffiti artist in Bristol, creating unique and powerful stencilled images across the city.

The combination of wit, artistry, social conscience and subversive subject matter have won Banksy worldwide critical acclaim with some of his major works now commanding huge figures - one piece in 2007 achieving more than £550,000 at auction in London, while in 2018 a self-destructing artwork by Banksy sold for $1.4 million dollars in New York.