‘Irreplaceable’ Durham County Hall mural could be lost

Glynn said conventional conservation methods were not viable for the artwork.

She said the only option would be to cut it into sections, which carried “significant risk” of damage and “health and safety concerns due to the likelihood of asbestos”.

“Logistically, transporting, reconstructing, and reinstalling the mural would be highly complex and come with considerable costs, with no guarantee of achieving a sympathetic final result,” she added.

A petition to the council to protect the artwork runs until 27 July.

Campaigners are trying to raise £250,000 to remove, restore, and relocate the mural following a meeting with the local authority earlier this week.

The C20 Society, Durham City Trust, the Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Association, City of Durham Parish Council and Jackfield Conservation Studio have also backed the rescue efforts.

“I think at the moment what we need to do is to just take a breath, stop the rollers from demolishing the mosaic, take stock of what we can do, have some reports from genuine specialists, and then move to the next phase,” Zon said.