A senior politician has thanked Haringey people for their role in stopping the sale of a piece of Banksy street art.

US auction house Fine Art Auctions Miami withdrew the Banksy piece Slave Labour (Bunting Boy) from online auction this evening.

It had gone on sale after disappearing along with a section of wall of the Poundland supermarket in Whymark Avenue where it had appeared overnight in May last year.

Haringey Borough Council had asked the Arts Council to try to stop the auction, and its leader Councillor Claire Kober had contacted Culture Secretary Maria Miller and Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado to ask them to stop the auction.

It emerged the sale had been halted at around 8pm this evening, despite three bids apparently having been made.

The Labour council leader tweeted: "It's a credit to the community that their campaigning has helped stop the sale going ahead.

"We will continue to explore all options to #bringbackBanksy (sic) to the community where it belongs."

Haringey Trade Union Council secretary Keith Flett thanked Cllr Kober and the authority's cabinet member for economic development and culture Cllr Alan Strickland for their work.

In a statement on his blog the union activist said: "This is an all too rare victory for the people of Haringey and the council deserves credit.

"We now need to get the Banksy back from America and restored to its rightful place in the borough."

He told the Haringey Independent: "If it hasn't been sold there must at least be the possibility of getting it back."