Brighton and Hove graffiti clamp down on illegal tags set to begin

The city council is differentiating between graffiti art and tags

A city council is looking at ways of reducing graffiti on streets and public buildings.

Brighton & Hove City Council says it wants to tackle the growth of illegal graffiti tags, and not graffiti art.

A council spokesman said: "We want to do more to ensure our streets and public spaces are well-maintained, clean and attractive."

The authority wants to start a public consultation as part of a review into its graffiti reduction strategy.

As well as a public consultation, the city council said it will be hosting engagement events with residents and businesses to discuss directly the ongoing and increasing problems of graffiti tagging.

The council said it was considering working with Sussex Police to ensure offenders had to repair any damage within 48 hours, and increasing the Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) for graffiti offences from £150 to £500.

The council says some graffiti can enhance the look of the city

The council said it was looking at the "more robust pursuing of large business who don't remove tagging in a timely manner".

In August the council announced it would not be fining smaller businesses which had been victims of graffiti tagging.

Tim Rowkins, chair of the City Environment, South Downs and the Sea Committee, said: "Tagging has blighted the city for too long, and has only got worse.

"We're really keen to make a distinction between graffiti tagging and graffiti art. With the permission of the property owner, graffiti art can enhance our city's cultural offer but graffiti tagging is criminal vandalism and impacts residents, businesses and visitors.

"We're hoping to explore new ideas about how to tackle tagging offences in the city and would love to hear from residents and businesses."

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