The Stokes croft riots took place in April 2011 and was the result of Tesco being placed in between the longest stretch of independent shops in Europe. These riots were driven by a mixture of anger from the locals about the corporate influences coming into the area and around gentrification.

As in all places but especially within stokes croft many large corporations began to push out the independent businesses that had been created to help benefit the community. Word spread over a 12-month period that Bristol’s 18th Tesco was going to be placed between the line of independent shops on CheltEnham road Despite local campaigns and protests. Bristol City Council approved the store’s construction in 2010. Activists, under the banner “No Tesco in Stokes Croft,” vocally opposed the supermarket, where 2,500 locals wrote objections to the council with worries about how it would Affect local businesses, AND HOW it would impact Stokes Croft’s creativity and unique character.

Rumors about a planned petrol bomb attack became apparent, and on 21st April 2011, the Stokes Croft Riots erupted. The police went to investigate a squat house located opposite the new tesco. This was known as “Telephatic Heights” where many protesters and activists would reside, however noT being ‘official’ campaignerS. They were told that petrol bombs were being sTOred in the squat to attack the store. “Then Salim said the police were trying to get in the front door, so I stopped painting. My first instinct WAS that there were going to be a few police to tell us that we were going to be evicted. But when I looked out the window, it was a completely different story. “There were 30 to 40 police officers all dressed up in riot gear, and they stormed the building.” This was a raid that drew in crowds and escAlated into violence. Protestors threw bottles and objects at the police who were there with sheilds and batons. The windows on tesco were smashed, and the shop front was vandailsied and some managed to enter the store, causing more damage.

Those residing at Telepathic Heights said that they had no part in this, and it was the previous residents, “We had no intention of attacking Tesco whatsoever,” said Gavin Houghton, 28. “It was never on the cards – we have nothing to do with the anti-Tesco protest. They’re a separate group.” A spokesman from the forensics team said that “We need to try and link it to the actual people involved because there are SEVERAL people at the address.”

The police used both clubs and dogs to protect themselves, which hoSPITALIsed at least 1 person and stormed the crowd with police on horseback. Bins were set alight, and bottles were thrown. The police left quickly at 3 am, whilst things were still up in the air and rubble was still burning.

The residents who lived at Telepathic Heights denied the making of these bombs, but the police later found evidence on the roof, and the following day the squat was evicted. This made national headlines, and banksy made a souvenir artwork which was a print that depicted a Tesco petrol bomb which appeared on Banksy’s website on wedneSday morning. All proceeds went to groups, including the people’s republic of stokes croft (PRSC). They said. “I think it’s going to raise the debate about what’s happened and it’s going to help focus attention on an issue that’s extremely important - that of corporate power.”

“In Stokes Croft we have [another of Banksy’s pieces] Mild, Mild, West... and it’s my understanding that it’s about police brutality and it’s 15 years old.”

This isn’t the first of Banksy’s work featuring Tesco; in 2005, he released a series of Tesco value soup can prints, which was in reference to Andy Warhol’s famous soup can. In 2008, he released the print Very Little Helps, which highlights children patriotically standing below a Tesco flag.