Street artist Burley Banksy has won a long battle with BT over the placement of his artwork on their telephone box cabinets, with a little (or a lot of) help from the Leeds community.
Burley's Banksy, real name Andy McVeigh, has been embroiled in a row with BT for months after the company insisted he did not have the correct permissions to paint his street art on their telephone box cabinets.
But now, the company has changed its tune after receiving thousands of emails and social media messages of support for the artist - and has even agreed to cover the cost of restoring the pieces of art they had painted over.
He was inundated with messages of support from the local community after the company painted over a number of his street art pieces after BBC covered up several of his colourful murals in Rothwell.
It's become quite a public falling out, with a large number of people in Leeds siding with the street artist and sharing their support online for the work - which many say has brightened up their days.
But now, after a meeting with BT Openreach's regional manager for the North, the company has u-turned and given support to the artist to keep painting its boxes in Leeds.
It seems that BT Openreach has receieved thousands of emails and social media posts in recent weeks concern the artwork, with both fans of Leeds United and the wider community getting in touch to share their opinion on the matter.
Now, thanks to public pressure, Andy is finally permitted to paint the BT boxes around Leeds.
Leeds United themed-boxes, however, will be kept to the Elland Road area going forward.
What's more, BT has agreed to fund the restoration of the Burley Banksy boxes it had covered over in Rothwell. It will also be making a donation to Martin House Children's Hospice, at Andy's request.
"Everyone has really struggled in the pandemic and people have said the boxes get them through the day," Andy told the YEP.
She's big, she's green and she's ready to ruin your figure.
A lot of you will have seen the viral ‘Bertha’ cake by Leeds born beloved sweet treat specialists Get Baked.
They recently opened another site in Manchester's Northern Quarter, where queues literally formed round the block of hungry punters wanting to get their hands on the infamous sugary treats.
And now it's going to happen all over again, as they've recently unveiled their newest flavour which is sure to go down a storm.
We’ll give you a hint: it’s a current food and drink trend that’s about as big as Bertha herself – it’s not matcha, it’s not hot honey (duh), and it’s not Guinness…
Images: Get Baked
Yes—scratch that; HELL YES!Get Baked is set to welcome Bertha’s equally beautiful twin sister, and she’s officially a pistachio girlie.
Having started out life simply as ‘Bruce’, after taking inspiration from the iconic scene from Matilda, this thing has become a phenomenon in its own right, and who doesn’t like more flavours of a good thing?
Probably one of the biggest foodie crazes going at the minute, thanks to the popularity of pistachio cream, cookies, lattes and the similar social media sensation that is the ‘Dubai Pistachio Bar' people are rather fittingly going nuts for this particular flavour of almost absolutely anything.
With that in mind, the Leeds-born bakery and dessert shop – founded by Rich Myers over in Headingley back in 2011 – have shown no hesitation in hopping on the bandwagon and creating a new twist on their own viral menu item.
Teasing the full details in a post on their Instagram this week, they wrote: “What’s big, green, and is going to destroy your life in a couple of weeks’ time? Pistachio Bertha. Strictly limited to 5,000 slices. Coming oh so soon. GB.”
In case you were wondering just how mad those with a sweet tooth could possibly go for a slice of cake, just look at the recent queues when they finally launched in Manchester city centre:
Speaking on the grand opening here on our turf and his partner Amy’s hometown, Myers said simply: “Manchester, what a launch. Thanks for much for the warm welcome. Stay baked.”
Leeds Tattoo Expo to return to the First Direct Arena for 10th anniversary
Clementine Hall
The tenth annual Leeds Tattoo Expo will showcase some of the best in tattooing both local and internationally.
If you fancy getting yourself a fancy new bit of ink, then look no further than the iconic Leeds Tattoo Expo that will be returning to the First Direct Arena this June.
Taking place on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 June 2025, over 200 tattooists and 70 traders will be flocking to the city to show off their skills.
And not only that, but there’ll also be a whole host of market traders for you to browse as well as live music to have a boogie to.
The artists will be tattooing with options for both pre-booked appointments and walk ups available throughout the weekend.
Image: Leeds Tattoo Expo
There will also be a piercer, tooth gems and a henna artist ready to adorn your body.
Alongside getting tattooed, there’s plenty to do and to see over the whole weekend; there'll be an alternative drawing class, an illustrators market with kids’ workshops provided by Art Gecko, an art fusion event on the main stage, burlesque performances and competitions, a small vintage clothing pop-up, fire breathing and break dancing demonstrations in the square outside the arena.
The annual tattoo competitions will also be taking place each evening, where tattooists showcase their work to a panel of judges, sponsored by Killer Ink!
To celebrate Leeds Tattoo Expo's tenth anniversary, they'll be hosting a Pre-Party at Belgrave Music Hall on Thursday 5 June which is a completely free entry event complete with live music and free pizza.
You can find out more about the event and book your tickets here via the First Direct Arena's website.
Georgina Pellant -
31st August 2021 
