Graffiti cleaned up on motorway into Bristol

There have been "many complaints" about graffiti on the M32, the council said

Graffiti along a major route into the centre of Bristol has been cleaned up.

National Highways has teamed up with Bristol City Council, Network Rail and the Bristol Waste Company to tackle the issue.

The four have removed the graffiti from the side of the motorway and a railway bridge, which once featured Banksy's name.

New paint to allow a faster clean up has also been added to some of the wall, the agency added.

Steve Pearson, from National Highways, said: "We know that people don't want to see roads blighted by vandalism and have been working hard to detect and remove graffiti.

"But doing so causes disruption to road users and takes away funds that would be better invested in our roads.

"Working with partner agencies, we have made a pledge to clean up the gateway to Bristol and by working together we have been able to limit the number of disruptive closures while improving the local area.

"Some of the tagging on the M32 is in a dangerous location where there are no hard shoulders but concrete walls, those carrying out the vandalism are putting their lives at risk."

Councillor Kye Dudd said: "Too many walls and structures in Bristol are now blighted by unacceptable levels of illegal graffiti which costs the council, homeowners, and other property owners hundreds of thousands of pounds every year to clean."

He added the council has had "many complaints" about the graffiti on the M32.