Leake Street became a hive for street artists and graffiti artists after Banksy organised a street art festival there in spring 2008. It appears that the use of the tunnel for the festival led to the authorities designating it as a place where one can legally paint, so four years later the tunnel still attracts graffiti and street art.
Leake Street became a hive for street artists and graffiti artists after a prominent street artist Banksy organised a street art festival (Canes Festival) there in Spring 2008. It is no a place where one can legally paint
Leake Street is also known as the “Banksy tunnel”. It is about 300 metres long, runs off York Road and under the platforms and tracks of Waterloo station. While the Eurostar terminal was at Waterloo, the road was open for through vehicular traffic. On 2008 November 14 ownership of the road passed from Eurostar to Network Rail and through traffic was restricted to pedestrians. Whatever the legal position may be, the creation of graffiti is tolerated there.