After withdrawal from Miami auction, planned June sale of mural that disappeared from wall brings protest from Haringey council

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

A fresh row has erupted over a Banksy mural that was withdrawn at the last minute from a controversial auction after it was put up for sale again.

Slave Labour, a spray-painted artwork depicting a child making union flag bunting and seen as a critical social commentary on last year's diamond jubilee, disappeared from the wall of a Poundland store in Wood Green, north London, in mysterious circumstances in February.

It appeared later that same month for auction in Miami, and was expected to sell for about $700,000 (£460,000). But the work was withdrawn moments before it was due to go under the hammer after protests from Haringey council.

The work is now up for sale at an auction in Covent Garden on 2 June by the Sincura Group, prompting condemnation from north London campaigners and officials.

Keith Flett, secretary of the local Trades Union Congress, attacked the move.

"The Slave Labour Banksy belongs to the people of Haringey, not to a wealthy private client," he said. "We want the sale stopped and the Banksy back where it belongs in London N22."

When the mural was up for auction in Miami, where it was expected to fetch up to £450,000, Claire Kober, the leader of Haringey council, said they were exploring "all options to bring back Banksy to the community where it belongs".

There was suspicion that the mural had been stolen when it disappeared in February but Scotland Yard said there were "no reports of any theft".

The Wood Green councillor Alan Strickland said local people would relaunch their campaign and the mural "belongs with the people of north London".

"We are quite shocked by the development and really disappointed that after a community campaign it should be put up for sale again," he said.

"We have been encouraging people to contact the events company to ask them to remove the piece.

"We saw the level of public anger last time, as the story went around the world, and I expect the same this time."

The auctioneers Sincura said the mural had "been sensitively restored under a cloak of secrecy", and would go on show alongside pieces by Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol and Mario Testino.

Slave Labour will go on sale at the London Film Museum in London's Covent Garden on 2 June.