Vix aboard The Banter, a van which pays tribute to Punk Kath

A TRIBUTE to one of London’s greatest punks is sitting in the heart of Islington.

The audaciously decorated van with pink leopard print and a mohawk is parked outside Charles Rowan House in Merlin Street.

The van is owned by Vix, who doesn’t use a surname, and was decorated by a group of friends in honour of a lost friend called Punk Kath.

Punk Kath, who died in December

Known as the Queen of the Underground, Punk Kath died in December at 58 and the van was used to carry her coffin from Clerkenwell to Honor Oak, where she was laid to rest.

“Kath was an icon. I mean, I can’t actually explain to you what a big deal she was,” said Vix, who knew her friend for 15 years. “She was a proper old-school punk. A funny, brilliant and amazing person. She was omnipresent – at every gig, festival, protest.

“When you go to a party now there’ll be a huge hole in it. We were saying that someone should make a sticker of her face, so at every single party there’s a sticker of her to have her there, because her not being there is a big deal.”

Vix with The Banter

She added: “Someone made this Lego rave thing, and there was a little Lego Punk Kath in it. That was the last time I saw her – at this temporary autonomous art thing in Old Street, with the Lego. She gave me this really strong drink.

“I was like, ‘mate, that’s so cool you’re in the Lego rave’.”

Punk Kath loved the van which she called The Banter, and had ridden on the back of it during a trip to Guinea-Bissau in West Africa.

“I’m in this tribe of stilt walkers called High Rise Rubber,” said Vix.

“We cover ourselves in copper paint and paint our tongues blue – some of us are up high on stilts, and there’s others crawling along the floor. We went over to Guinea Bissau to do a stage and a sound system at the carnival there, and Kath came to that. She joined High Rise Rubber for the day – I remember painting her face for it.”

Punk Kath was originally from the Isle of Wight but was squatting in London by the time she was 16.

Punk Kath in her youth

Another friend Lou, who knew Kath for many years, said: “She was really committed and passionate about human rights, the planet, and politics. She was part of the street kitchen movement, she volunteered making people a free meal. She was really passionate about supporting immigrants and refugees in this country as well.”

Lou believes that Kath’s death could have been avoided. “Kath was punk until the day she died in appearance and attitude – she had a colourful mohawk.

“Doctors looked at her as just this punk, homeless person. This is something that happens a lot to people in our culture. If we’re homeless, or punks, hippies, Travellers, squatters, then we’re just perceived as unworthy.”

She added: “Being able to use The Banter, and have that memorial for her, it was beautiful. “It’s a legendary vehicle, and it’s looking special.”