Mysterious “demonic” images have been emanating from the roof of a Hampstead bus stop – disturbing residents and prompting a church minister to investigate.
Rev Ewan King, of Heath Street Baptist Church, in Heath Street, even considered climbing up on top of the stop in Spaniards Road – while wearing his full religious attire – after being alerted to the “bizarre” visuals.
They were brought to his attention by a disturbed congregation member who recently spotted the red and black images.
Alex White, 55, an IT worker, said: “It is a bizarre set of images which is being shown repetitively.
“There is a repeating sequence of strange images in red – they include three faces of someone who looks as if they are in pain and many scary faces of monsters.
“The adjective which springs to mind is ‘demonic’.”
Mr White was troubled enough by the sight that he decided to contact both the Ham&High and the reverend, whose church is nearby.
The minister said: “Someone said they were a bit concerned, so the least I could do was have a look.
“I went off in my suit before a service and said to people at the bus stop, ‘don’t mind me I’m just going to climb on the roof’.
“I was about to do that when the people at the stop said it might be easier to look from the top of a bus.”
Mr King soon realised he was at the wrong bus stop altogether. The images were above the shelter on the other side of the road, just about viewable from the street.
The pastor eventually solved the mystery by contacting Transport for London (TfL), who revealed it was all part of a public art project dubbed Bus-Tops that launched in 2012 to coincide with the Olympics.
Red and black LED displays were installed on top of 30 bus stops across the capital, including another in Finchley Road.
Anyone can create the artworks by uploading them to a website.
Mr White said: “When I found out it was an art project, I thought ‘You have got to be joking’. In terms of waste of money, this is up there.
“It’s ridiculous. If you’re going to display something, why do it on top of a bus stop where no one can see it?”
While a TfL spokesman said the project is supposed to be finished, the display remains active this week.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here