Brighton and Hove illegal graffiti fines to treble

Brighton is known for its vibrant street art and colourful murals

Fines for people caught spraying illegal graffiti are set to treble in Brighton and Hove.

The increase from £150 to £500 for the offence - as well as for fly-tipping and littering - has been approved by Brighton & Hove City Council.

The rise was to "deter offenders, reduce environmental crimes and improve the look and feel of the city", the council said.

The change will come into effect from December.

The council says it wants to tackle the growth of illegal graffiti tags, and not graffiti art.

Maxine Horn cleans up graffiti with the North Laine Community Association's Anti-Tag Group.

She said tagging is "totally out of control" in her area of Brighton and that the group is "fighting a losing battle".

Ms Horn thinks fining people does not help due to a lack of convictions.

She said: "It doesn't matter what the fines are. You can triple them, you can quadruple them and more. It won't make any difference unless the law is actually enforced."

Cllr Tim Rowkins said the focus of the fines was on tagging and not street art

Labour councillor Tim Rowkins said one of the issues is that tagging has become so common in the last few years "it seems like it is acceptable".

He said: "When you tag on a brand new freshly-painted surface it really sticks out. But when there's so much of it, there's just this background of noise everywhere."

At the council meeting, Conservative councillor Carol Theobald said a fine is "not enough".

"I'd like to see these people actually go and take their graffiti off," she added.