TOWN Hall murals ­painted by a famous artist that were mysteriously dumped in a house clearance sale more than 25 years ago are going under the hammer next week – and the council is determined to get them back.

Camden Council is planning to reclaim a 1960s Cecil Osborne triptych depicting landmark scenes and sites from all over the borough at an auction in south London.

East London Group painter Osborne was working as a surveyor in the planning department of the old St Pancras Town Hall when he was commissioned by the council to create the murals.

The 6ft by 6ft artworks were hung in the Town Hall but “disappeared before re-emerging at auction in Bayswater in the 1990s”, according to the auction listing. They were bought at that sale by Dr Kaori O’Connor, a senior anthropologist at University College London.

She said: “When I bought them I didn’t know anything about the artist at the time. “But I later found out his heartbreaking story. He was as poor as it was possible to be. You can’t make a living as an artist, so he went to work in the planning office for St Pancras Council. “When they needed something to cover the walls of the Town Hall, he said, ‘I’ll do it – but you have to pay for it’. “How many other towns and boroughs commissioned art that just vanished?”

She added: “A veil of darkness continues to hang over how the paintings ended up in the clearance sale.” The murals are adorned with charming captions, for example: “Cumberland Market – where hay was once sold and now tall flats appear and a gay steam roller is seen.”

Another says: “The Royal Free Hospital – the first to admit that women may become doctors.” There is a blur of past and present with red double-decker buses travelling down the roads alongside horses and carts. Dr O’Connor said the murals are painted “as if you were a pigeon sitting on a ledge looking down”, adding that their size may have put off private buyers.

The New Journal understands the council has been awaiting an official valuation of the murals by an auction house. Mr Osborne, who lived in Belsize Square, was interviewed about the murals before his death in 1996 by art historian David Buckman, who wrote a book From Bow to Biennale: Artists of the East London Group.

The murals up for sale

He also interviewed Mr Osborne’s son Dorian who in Mr Buckman’s book says: “The council supplied the materials and father designed and painted the series which are six feet by six feet square. My brother and I were used as artist’s models for some of the children depicted. “At a later date, the council moved all three to the public lending library in Brecknock Road near Kentish Town from where they were moved into storage.”

Cecil Osborne died believing the murals had been lost forever.

“Really, these unique panels belong in Camden,” Dr Buckman told the New Journal this week.

Councillor Richard Olszewski, cabinet member for finance and transformation said: “We intend to bid for the Osborne murals at the auction next week, with a view to returning these historic artworks to their rightful Camden home. If returned to their original setting, they can be appreciated by the public once more as part of the important democratic and civic history of the Town Hall.”

He added: “There is no direct cost to local taxpayers as, if successful, the purchase will be funded by the refurbishment project budget. This is self-financing due to the rental income we will receive from the Camden Centre, office and basement spaces once the refurbish­ment is complete.”

The murals are being put up for sale at Roseberrys auction house in south London on September 24.