Dismaland Parking attendant bears a striking resemblance to Banksy

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Staff at his Dismaland bemusement park admit warden 'looks like Banksy'
Insiders believe artist may be Bristol public schoolboy Robin Gunningham
Picture from 2004 of man with spray paints and stencil only evidence
Banksy wears disguises and fans have speculated attendant 'could be him'
Do you know the 'Banksy' warden? email: news@mailonline.co.uk

By Martin Robinson and Ruth Styles for MailOnline

Published: 06:55 EST, 10 September 2015 | Updated: 11:23 EST, 10 September 2015

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Banksy is the world's most elusive artist whose true identity is kept secret because he is a master of disguise who works on his installations at the dead of night.

But the star's superfans are speculating whether he may have surfaced in daylight - posing as a parking warden at his own Dismaland bemusement park in Weston-Super-Mare.

A Dismaland staff member who claims to have met the guerrilla graffiti artist admitted the likeness between the two men is striking and said: 'This is exactly the sort of thing Banksy would do'.

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Could this be Banksy? The only picture that some believe shows Banksy was taken 11 years ago in Jamaica, left, and fans have speculated how much a parking attendant at Dismaland looks like him

Coincidence? A Dismaland staff member who claims to have met the guerilla graffiti artist admitted the likeness between the two men is striking

Insiders in the art world have claimed there is compelling evidence suggesting that the artist is former public schoolboy Robin Gunningham, from Bristol, who is believed to be in his early forties.

Others have claimed Banksy is older, having been inspired by French artist Blek le Rat, who began working in 1981, which could make him at least ten years older.

The only clue until now has been a photograph taken in Jamaica 11 years ago of a man with a bag of spray cans and a stencil by his feet.

Today several people admitted they were taken aback by how much the parking warden working outside Dismaland looks like the millionaire artist.

Banksy has admitted he disguises himself when in public and claims it is much easier and quicker to install works himself.

Appearances in public, or on film, have also been in disguise or with his face covered. Banksy says he must remain anonymous because of the often illegal nature of his art.

Although the Dismaland parking warden clearly looks older than a man in his early forties, he shares many of the same facial features as Mr Gunningham and also has an earring in his left ear.

Photographer Etienne Gilfillan captured the warden while on a trip to Dismaland with Belgian reporter Olivier Van Vaerenbergh, for an article to appear in next week's Le Focus ViF.

Mr Gilfillan said: 'While waiting for tickets at the front entrance, a Seafront management parking attendant walks by and I thought blimey does he looks like Banksy or what?

'The person at the door looked over at him and laughed and said: 'Isn't that just the type of thing Banksy would do.

'Inside Dismaland, one of the staff, who supposedly met Banksy once, looked at my picture and said I have to admit it does look like him.

He added: 'Yeah it does look him'.

Ambitious: Dismaland in Weston Super Mare is his most ambitious art project ever and staff have said it is likely that Banksy may have been to have a look himself

Could it be him? Not only did the man outside look like prime suspect Robin Gunningham, and he also has an earring in the same ear

Theory: Some have said this Banksy artwork in Bethnal Green may be a self portrait

Robin Gunningham, who is thought to be in his late 30s or early 40s, remains the man most believed to be Banksy, although only a handful of the artist's friends know his true identity.

He was educated at the £9,240-a-year Bristol Cathedral School, which shocked some of the artist's fans who were fond of their hero's 'anti-establishment' stance.

Banksy has become renowned for his use of stencils to spray illegal images on public walls. Some councils and businesses have begun to protect his creations and his works have been sold to celebrities, including Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

Rumours have persisted that the artist is called Robin Banks, that he is from Bristol, and that his parents think he is a painter and decorator.

Gunningham's former school friend Scott Nurse said in 2011: 'He was one of three people in my year who were extremely talented at art. I am not at all surprised if he is Banksy.'

Records reveal Gunningham once lived with artist Luke Egan, who later exhibited with Banksy. Mr Egan initially denied knowing Gunningham but later admitted he had lived with him.

Around 2000, when Banksy moved to London, Gunningham relocated to a flat in Hackney. A number of Banksy's most famous works have appeared nearby. At that time Gunningham lived with Jamie Eastman, who worked for the Hombre record label – which has used illustrations by Banksy.

Mr Gunningham's own parents have denied the artist was their son, although when his mother Pamela was shown the picture by the Mail on Sunday four years ago she initially denied she even had a son, let alone one called Robin, according to the paper.

Inside: Dismaland is filled with the work of Banksy, and others, fill the park. This packed boat, created by Banksy, highlights the ongoing migrant crisis in Europe

A woman attacked by seagulls piece by Banksy at Dismaland. The exhibition opened officially last month and will run for five weeks, sending demand for tickets through the roof

Grand; Pictured is Banksy's piece showing a killer whale jumping out of a toilet and through a hoop, which is being held by a diver

LOOKING FOR BANKSY: COULD THIS BE THE LATEST APPEARANCE OF THE SCARLETT PIMPERNEL OF THE MODERN ART WORLD?

Vision: Banksy in his own movie in 2011, which was nominated for an Oscar

He's the Scarlet Pimpernel of modern art and his true identity remains a jealously guarded secret.

A network of myths has grown up around him. That his real name is Robin Banks. That he used to be a butcher. That his parents don't know what he does, believing him to be an unusually successful painter and decorator.

Then there's the suggestion that Banksy is actually a collective of artists and doesn't exist at all.

Banksy's refusal to reveal himself may have started simply to avoid prosecution for what could be described as acts of vandalism.

However by remaining anonymous he has created an air of mystery which has helped him to become one of the most successful artists of his generation.

He has been photographed in the past but always wearing a mask or hood.

In 2008 he was 'unmasked' by the Mail on Sunday as Robin Gunningham, a former public schoolboy from Bristol with a passion for art. At the time Banksy's agent refused to confirm or deny the story.

Banksy then wrote on his website:'I am unable to comment on who may or may not be Banksy', and denied it was him.

Fans had hoped he would finally reveal himself in his 2010 graffiti film Exit Through The Gift Shop - he did appear in the film however he was heavily pixellated.

The film tells the story of an eccentric shop-keeper-turned-documentary-maker who attempts to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on him and gives few clues as to the artist's identity.

Banksy has resurfaced several times since, notably in 2011 when pictures were taken of a man daubing lettering on a water tank in Santa Monica.

It was claimed a homeless man had been living inside the tank for years and Banksy's artwork resulted in him being kicked out.

Banksy had turned Tachowa Covington's makeshift Pacific Coast Highway home into a piece of art by spray painting along the side of the bus-sized tank 'This looks a bit like an elephant'.

But after the art world got wind of it someone bought Covington's squat with the intention of selling to collectors.

Banksy reportedly made amends with Covington by providing him with a sizable sum of money