A street artist came up with a creative way to ensure a fly-tipped fridge was removed after being inspired by Banksy.

Nick Shaker grew tired of seeing the appliance after it was dumped outside his hair salon in Herne Bay three weeks ago.

The 44-year-old decided to take matters into his own hands, and using his artistic skills, painted an image of a girl holding a can of spray paint on the fridge door with the caption “this is art”.

Within 12 hours, someone came along and took the door off its hinges to remove the ‘artwork’ - but left the rest of the fridge.

Mr Shaker was inspired to act by the appearance of the Banksy artwork in Margate in February, which depicted a 1950s housewife pushing a man into a fridge-freezer propped against a wall in Park Place.

The day after Banksy claimed responsibility for the work, Thanet District Council removed the freezer, prompting neighbours to add ‘this is art’ signs to nearby fly-tipping in the hope it would also be removed.

Mr Shaker told KentOnline: “When I remembered the Banksy on the fridge-freezer in Margate I thought ‘hold on’.

“The fact that it was a fridge and it was there - I had to do it.

“I did it on Sunday night, went home, and came back to work the next morning at about 8.30 and the door was gone.”

Thankfully, the hairdresser’s mission was completed when the rest of the fridge was taken away later that same day.

He added: “I was a bit shocked to see the door had been taken but I thought it was funny.

“I thought it was amusing that a piece of old junk was in someone’s garage under the false impression that it was worth a couple of quid.

“The way I see it, I’ve kind of prevented landfill.

“I’ve taken rubbish and made it a bit more appealing.”

The artist, who owns Shakers Hair in Bank Street, did not see who dumped the item, or who took it away.

Mr Shaker, who has dubbed himself ‘Herne Bay’s Banksy’, produces commissioned street art alongside his hairdressing job, and recently created a piece on the side of a shop in Mortimer Street depicting a girl and different coloured hearts.

The elusive street artist has also been in Herne Bay, where he painted a boy and cat looking through some corrugated iron curtains on the side of Blacksole Farm house.

In a surprising turn of events, the house was demolished shortly before Bansky claimed the piece as his own.