The artist behind a mural depicting angels flying above the wreckage of the bus destroyed in the July 7 terror attacks in London said he wanted to “jolt” people into thinking about the potential effects of faith.

Mark Sinckler’s Age of Shiva has gone on show at a pop-up gallery, Marks & Stencils, in Berwick Street, Soho.

The black and white print shows the remains of the number 30 bus which was destroyed by suicide bomber Hasib Hussain at Tavistock Square during the attacks on the capital.

As well as killing themselves and 52 others, the four bombers injured more than 700 people.

Mr Sinckler said: “It is part of a series of work called Faiths and Physicality and what I’m trying to do is to make anyone that has a faith, a belief, or an idea they hold close to their heart to think about the impact of these ideas when they leave their heads. I wanted to jolt people into seeing the results of these thoughts put into action.”

The long-awaited inquests into the attacks began last month at the Royal Courts of Justice and have heard harrowing evidence from survivors and victims’ families.

Mr Sinckler said: “It is a grotesque thing that happened. The inquiry is to establish the facts and find out what happened and to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again and that is partly what my image is trying to do. It is meant to make people think about the effects of faith.”

The exhibition, organised by Pictures on Walls, runs until December 23.

John Falding, whose partner Anat Rosenberg died in the Tavistock Square attack, said he found the picture “quite upsetting”.

He said: “One of the problems is that the image of the bus is the iconic image of the 7/7 attacks but it is always upsetting when you see it being used, quite justifiably, in papers or on the TV but it goes further to see it used as a work of art, which is quite unnecessary.”