Councillor ‘horrified’ by graffiti in underpass Vandals ‘determined to destroy our work’

A subway undergoing a £55,000 renovation has already been targeted by “mindless idiots” armed with spray cans.

The underpass beneath Wincheap roundabout was daubed with yellow and red graffiti on Thursday night.

Pricey work to upgrade the walkway - including cleaning, tiling and painting - was signed off by the city council earlier this year.

But the hard work and expensive investment was almost immediately undone when graffiti was sprayed on the new wall.

Cllr Nick Eden-green, who has long campaigned for improvements and been involved with the upgrades to the subway, cleaned off the unwanted paint after being alerted to the incident.

“When I heard about this vandalism I was absolutely horrified,” he said.

“These people are just mindless idiots who seem determined to destroy the good work being done to improve this vital pedestrian link between Wincheap and the city.

“If it happens again than we will clean it again. But, I’d much rather these idiots be caught and made to clean up their antisocial antics themselves.”

“I wanted the walls tiled ensuring a more permanent solution to keeping them clean, rather than just covering bare concrete with an anti graffiti coating.”

The ward councillor was aided in the clean-up by fellow Wincheap Society committee member Derek Maslin.

Mr Maslin said: “It was not the way I would normally choose to spend my Saturday morning but passing pedestrians expressed their disgust at what had happened and we received positive comments and thanks from almost everyone who passed by.

“It required a bit of elbow grease and several attempts with anti-graffiti chemicals as well as a lot of water. However, the finished result is as good as new.”

Other subways to be upgraded in the city council’s improvements include the St George’s and Riding Gate tunnels. The total cost comes in at a staggering £320,000, with CCTV and LED lighting pushing up the prices.