GLASGOW City Council has responded to concerns after a number of murals were painted over for a major Hollywood production.
Filming for The Batman: Part II gets underway in Glasgow next week, with a number of locations across the city being transformed into Gotham.
It will be the third time Glasgow has appeared in The Batman films, with Robert Pattinson set to return as Bruce Wayne following his debut in the role in 2022.
On Tuesday, production crews were seen painting over a number of murals underneath the Kingston Bridge, where much of the film shoot will be focused.
There are a total of 23 murals painted on the pillars underneath the bridge, which were only completed in May and feature artworks from a number of local, national and international artists.
Locals took to social media to express outrage, arguing the move was "a disgrace and an insult" to the artists behind the murals and hitting out at the council for "pimping the city out to film production companies".
However, Glasgow City Council has confirmed that the murals will be reinstated once filming is complete, with the production company covering the cost.
The murals were originally supported through the local authority's city centre mural fund, with work coordinated through SWG3's Yardworks project.
A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “The murals are being covered as part of the forthcoming film production and the production company will cover all the costs of reinstatement.
“SWG3 has remained involved in the project and artists will be undertaking the reinstatement immediately after filming is over.”
Glasgow MSP Paul Sweeney told The National he was initially "angry" when he saw that the murals were being painted over.
"They had only been finished a couple of months ago, and using these motorway structures for murals is something I have been pushing for years," he said.
"However, I checked in with Yardworks at SWG3 who led the project, and they reassured me that they will be fully reinstated after the filming."
The MSP continued: "Given the significant problem with tagging and other ugly graffiti on the Glasgow motorway network, I would like to see a much more extensive programme of street art and murals commissioned, rather than simply painting it over with ugly grey primer paint as Amey highways usually tend to do.
"Whilst it is cool that Glasgow regularly appears in major global blockbuster films, we do need to ensure that collateral damage to the city is kept to a minimum, and that includes the impact on local businesses of prolonged and unpredictable road closures without proper compensation from film studios, which have seriously impacted hospitality businesses like Bavaria Brauhaus and Ho Wong on Bothwell Street."
