Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
More graffiti after clean-up
Graffiti has been scrawled across city locations just days after residents and council workers scrubbed off more than 100 tags.
A spate of vandalism has seen the likes of Aldi and the old Adscene building in Wincheap targeted by yobs.
In an effort to catch the culprits, the council has issued an appeal for residents to come forward should they recognise the style of graffiti or tags.
The fresh vandalism comes after the authority introduced a team of enforcement officers dedicated to catching nuisance offenders, getting rid of spray paint and working with others to do the same.
And in recent weeks, the council has blitzed parts of Wincheap in a bid to remove as much graffiti as possible.
But despite its best efforts, the taggers have been at it again. The council hopes the introduction of the enforcement team is a step in the right direction. But Cllr Nick Eden-green believes the authority has let the graffiti problem spiral into a “truly dreadful state” and that action has come too late.
“The council has promised, on several previous occasions, to tackle the graffiti problem but each time they have failed to do so,” he said.
“Now they have a lot of catching up to do.
“The council needs to clamp down on shops selling cheap spray paint to underage children, and tackle new graffiti immediately.
“They need to work more closely with the police to identify individuals and really scrutinise CCTV evidence, and promote murals and street art instead of graffiti.” Figures from 2019 show the council spent £66,000 on removal costs throughout the year as they responded to 2,016 records of graffiti across the district. Anyone who may know the graffiti culprits should email graffiti@canterbury.gov.uk.