Banksy sale to pay for education

The painting was kept in Mrs Findlay's bedroom for eight years

An early work by the graffiti artist Banksy which was bought for £250 in 2000 has been auctioned for £40,000.

Talia Findlay decided to sell Monkey Detonator after a visit to an urban art sale at Paintworks in Bristol revealed the painting's potential value.

The work, bought as a birthday present for Mrs Findlay by her father, had been hanging on her bedroom wall.

The 36-year-old and her husband, from Somerset, plan to use the money to help pay for their two sons' education.

'Totally speechless'

''My dad bought me the Banksy showing a monkey leaping on to a detonator as a surprise for my 28th birthday," said Mrs Findlay.

''He paid £250 at Banksy's third exhibition at Severnshed in Bristol.

"I absolutely loved it and it's been the centrepiece of our bedroom for the past eight years.

''But I was gobsmacked, totally speechless, when I was told it is now valued at £40,000 to £60,000.''

Monkey Detonator went under the hammer alongside 10 other Banksy works at auctioneer Dreweatts' Urban Art Sale at Shoreditch Studios in London on 14 October.

The only solid biographical fact known about Banksy, who has been described as a "guerilla artist", is that he was born and raised in Bristol.