Banksy: New London artwork of stretching cat appears on billboard

Banksy has confirmed the sixth artwork in his new animal-themed collection across London, a silhouette of a cat on an empty, distressed billboard.

The street artist posted a photo of the design on his Instagram on Saturday without any caption.

The new work is in Cricklewood, an area in north-west London and is the sixth in as many days.

It follows his most recent artwork of pelicans appearing to take fish from a chip shop sign, which was revealed on Friday.

A stencilled image of a goat appeared in Kew on Monday while an image of two elephants touching trunks in Chelsea was revealed by the Bristol-based artist on Tuesday, although on Friday it was seen defaced with stripes.

Three monkeys hanging from a bridge in Brick Lane drew crowds on Wednesday, and a howling wolf on a satellite dish was seen in Peckham on Thursday.

When the artwork of two pelicans appeared above the sign of a fish and chip shop in Walthamstow on Friday, one resident told BBC News: “It’s genuinely really exciting.

“A friend messaged me early this morning telling me it’s appeared on my street so we arranged to come down as soon as we could.

“It’s so fun and wholesome – that’s what’s really nice to see.”

She believed the location, Bonners Fish Bar, was significant.

“It’s a bit of an icon of the area, so I’m sure that’s why it’s been chosen,” she said.

“It’s been here a long time and it’s well loved.”

Thursday’s stencil of a wolf on a satellite dish in Rye Lane, Peckham, was taken down from on top of a building within hours of it being revealed.

A video was filmed showing two people removing it and carrying it off down the street.

The Banksy press team told the BBC they “believed” it had been stolen.

A statement from the Metropolitan Police said it had received reports the dish had been stolen, and said there had been “no arrests” and “inquiries continue”.

The Banksy press team declined to comment about the possible meaning behind the series of stencils in London, except that “people could make up their own minds”.