Desperate plea over Pat Butcher sex shop painting mistakenly sold for £19

A "gutted" artist is pleading for a "sentimental" painting of EastEnders star Pat Butcher wearing bondage gear in front of a sex shop to be returned after the original was accidentally sold for just £19 instead of a print.

Yoshi Miura drew the surreal scene of the BBC One show's cast in 2020 as a joke between her and hip-hop artist friend Matt Raikes.

The poster shows Matt with hardman Phil Mitchell, and the late Dot Cotton sipping a cup of tea in front of the Love Boutique adult toy emporium in Manchester.

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The 38-year-old said she was inspired to create the hand-drawn art as an EastEnders fan and regularly joked with Matt about him chatting with Albert Square legend Phil.

But when Yoshi displayed her art at a pop-up art shop in Salford, Greater Manchester, in October, her original drawing was accidentally sold for just £19 in a "misunderstanding" – when it would usually go for more than £100.

She is now begging the buyer to come forward and return the art, which has "a lot of sentimental value", so that she can replace it for a high-quality print and keep the original safe.

Yoshi, from Manchester, said: “I wouldn’t have sold it for £19 with the frame. I’m a really big fan of Pat Butcher. She’s my icon. I found it quite amusing when I was drawing it."

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She added: “Love Boutique is iconic in the Northern Quarter. Everyone recognises it. I thought it would be something to make people laugh.”

Yoshi said: “No one has been in touch with me. I would say to (the buyer) that I’m really happy they were drawn to the drawing because it means a lot to me, but I’d like it back.”

The pop-up shop owner, who wished not to be named, said: “We are here to do all we can to help find the lovely lady who bought the artwork and return it to Yoshi as we know it means so much.”

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