Can Cromer’s Banksy artwork survive another winter?

Guerilla graffiti artist Banksy visited Norfolk on his Great British Spraycation in August 2021 – leaving his mark in coastal towns such as Great Yarmouth and Gorleston.

But perhaps the most difficult to see of his spraycation works sits slowly deteriorating on a sea defence wall in Cromer.

The art once depicted a crab with a shell on its back holding a sign saying ‘Luxury Rentals Only’, facing a trio of crabs without shells.

The Banksy artwork in its prime, before being worn down by the sea and vandalised (Image: Sue Edwards)

But it has since been vandalised, with the words in the speech bubble now covered up with several exclamation marks and question marks above each of the other three crabs.

In 2023,  councillor Tim Adams, leader of North Norfolk District Council (NNDC), said he would be “surprised if [the Banksy] survives through the winter. It will be lost to the sea eventually.”

When contacted again for comment about the mural’s chances of survival by this paper a year later, the council said that it has “survived much longer than everyone expected it to”.

But now that the mural has outlived its prognosis from the council twice, questions have been raised as to how long the fading art truly has left.

Now, as of November 2025, the art is on borrowed time, with council officials left uncertain if it can survive this winter.

Can the crabs survive another winter?

The mural’s deteriorated state as of December 2024 (Image: North Norfolk District Council)

On the mural’s prospects of surviving this year’s colder months, a spokesman for NNDC said: “It’s deteriorated further [since 2024], so it’s definitely succumbing to the North Sea slowly but surely.

“The essence of it is still there, though, even if the original message has been covered over.

“It could very well have one last winter in it. It’s done very well to survive so long – we put a protective spray on there to give it a little bit more life when it was first found, but that would have only extended its life by another winter or so.”

The graffiti crabs act as a major draw for tourism in the seaside town, and can be found on the east beach, past all the beach huts and down the ramp.

It has attracted international interest over the years, including a visit from the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation NHK.