TO HIS EYES, it’s an art installation that wouldn’t look out of place at the Tate Modern, with the added advantage that the materials used were destined for a landfill rubbish dump.
But to Camden Council, Peter Stanley’s eccentric collection of hubcaps tied to a fence outside his home is a scrapheap-style eyesore which has brought complaints from neighbours who want it removed.
The unusual art display is made up of more than 150 hubcaps Mr Stanley retrieved from the gutter next to a speed hump outside his Kentish Town home in Torriano Avenue.
It includes hubcaps from top-of-the-range BMWs, Saabs and MGs as well as those from less desirable Nissans and Fords. There is even a discarded radiator grille to keep them company.
He said: “There was a ditch in the road which was badly repaired so all these hubcabs just kept falling off the cars. At first I just picked them up and put them in the garden but then I thought it would make an interesting art installation.”
Mr Stanley, a retired banjo player who has lived in the street for 30 years, is a member of the Californian-founded Universal Life Church, a 1960s hippie-style humanist organisation that preaches pacifism and acceptance of all religious views. It was used by many to escape the Vietnam draft in the 1960s.
He says he has had no complaints from anyone about his art, and claims he is even saving council tax payers money by recycling the spare parts.
He said: “I sometimes have people knocking on the door saying they’re missing a hubcap and can they take one off the fence. I don’t mind. They’re pretty expensive to buy and it’s recycling them in the end.”
But now Camden’s environmental health team has asked Mr Stanley to contact them over “concerns that have been raised about materials deposited on your property” and requesting a home visit to inspect the caps.
But Mr Stanley maintains his collection is not rubbish but a viable piece of art.
He said: “I don’t see why the council should want to talk to me about it. They’re on my side of the fence and they’re not doing anyone any harm. They’re quite firmly tied to the fence so there’s no danger of them blowing off.”
A Town Hall spokesman said: “A complaint was received recently about materials being left on a property and the public health risk they might pose to neighbouring premises. Camden’s environmental health team is investigating.”