Punk memorabilia torched in 40th anniversary statement

The son of Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren and fashion designer Vivienne Westwood torched a wealth of punk memorabilia on Saturday in protest at official plans to celebrate the movement's 40th anniversary.

Joe Corre burnt the items, said to be worth £5 million ($6.2 million, 5.9 million euros), on a boat on the River Thames in London.

"Punk was never, never meant to be nostalgic -- and you can't learn how to be one at a Museum of London workshop," he told onlookers.

"Punk has become another marketing tool to sell you something you don't need. The illusion of an alternative choice. Conformity in another uniform."

The memorabilia went up in smoke along with fireworks and effigies of leading politicians.

Corre previously said he was angered by Punk London's plans to mark 40 years of the sub-culture.

The programme, which includes events, concerts and exhibitions, is supported by partners including the Mayor of London, the British Library and the British Film Institute.

Corre said he wanted to highlight "the hypocrisy at the core of this hijacking of 40 years of 'Anarchy in the UK'", the Sex Pistols' iconic single which was released on November 26, 1976.

"The establishment has decided it is time to celebrate it. It is trying to privatise it, package it, castrate it," The Times newspaper quoted him as saying.

"It is time to put it all on the fire."

A fire service boat helped to extinguish the flames.