A street artist whose work has been exhibited at the Louvre and Tate Modern has emerged as the person behind art on Hoylake beach.
Two pieces have appeared recently, sparking a debate on local Facebook groups about who could be responsible.
One, near the RNLI Lifeboat station, depicts an ostrich with its head in the sand, with a songbird on its back.
The other, at the bottom of Trinity Road, features a small boy with a mobile phone in his hand next to a bucket and spade, with a seagull sitting on the handle.
They are both the work of Zedsy, who uses a similar style to that of Banksy, and has had his work displayed at the famous artist’s Dismaland theme park.
In a two minute video posted to his Facebook page, the artist has revealed it is a response to the row over whether Hoylake beach should be raked.
Text on the video reads: “In a seaside town in Merseyside, a debate has been raging on the future of their beach. The council have stopped all maintenance on the beach, resulting in the growth of grass and wildlife, while many of the locals want the area cleaned and restored back to a golden beach.”
The video then cuts to a BBC North West Tonight report about the controversy, with reporter Ian Haslam saying to the camera: “Frankly, you’re not likely to see anybody turning up here with a bucket and spade building a sandcastle anymore”.
This is followed by a shot of the artwork of the young boy with a bucket and spade.
Wirral Council recently voted to explore two options over the future of the beach which will be put to the public in a further round of consultation.
A new beach management plan is due to be implemented next year.
West Kirby Today has approached Zedsy for comment.
Photo credits: Zedsy