Council launches plan to 'blitz' illegal graffiti

The council will spend £100,000 on cleaning the busiest parts of the city centre

A council plans to "blitz" illegal graffiti with the launch of a three-year plan to tackle "vandalism".

Brighton & Hove City Council will use £100,000 of extra funding agreed in June to clean up the busiest part of the city centre.

The Graffiti Tagging Action Plan will start with all buildings and street furniture from the rail station to the seafront, including North Street and Western Road.

Tim Rowkins, the cabinet member for the environment, said: "We aren't talking about professional street art that Brighton is known for and what people come here for. We are talking about vandalism."

The money used for this project came from a surplus fund after £2 million was unspent in the council's budget last year.

Mr Rowkins told BBC Radio Sussex: "We've doubled the number staff and added some resources. We are going to be cleaning whatever we see.

"We are a tourist city, we need to have a clean and presentable city centre for guests, residents and businesses."

'Vandalism'

The council said one of the keys to the action plan will be taking a "whole area approach" to the removal of illegal graffiti.

"This means tags will be removed from all property, regardless of the owner," it said.

"We’ll also be developing a plan for empty properties which we know can attract more tagging but are less likely to be cleaned."

Matt Thomas, who manages a shop in the city, said: "I'm regularly cleaning up graffiti.

"It can be hard to clean, particular if a glitter pen is used.

"I'm not opposed to an area where people could produce graffiti legitimately.

"Maybe we need to ask what is wrong with society that people feel they need to tag their buildings with their names."

Mr Rowkins added: "We are dealing with criminal damage and vandalism here.

"I have sympathy for shops who spend their time cleaning this up.

"We are looking for legal places where people could do some graffiti."