Cleaning up graffiti cost council tax payers in Brighton and Hove almost £90,000 in just one year, according to a new survey.
Brighton and Hove City Council was in the top 20 councils in the UK for the amount of money spent on the task last year.
And outside London, Brighton and Hove had the eighth-highest spend among English councils.
But the survey also found that the highest-spending councils paid out a six-figure sum to deal with tagging and spray-can vandalism.
In the current financial year, which started in April, the council has budgeted £122,000, provided it raises money from fines.
The study of how much councils across the country spent was carried out by building renovation business Structural Repairs.
The company asked 379 local authorities to spell out the cost of tackling graffiti and said that councils were often each dealing with thousands of incidents a year.
Structural Repairs, which also offers its own graffiti removal service, said that at least 130 councils included dealing with graffiti as part of their overall street cleaning set up.
In Brighton and Hove, the council employs two staff just to clean graffiti off buildings and other surfaces.
Two years ago, councillors agreed a graffiti reduction strategy – and last month they voted to beef up their approach.
Utility firms – such as gas, electricity, water and phone companies – and bigger employers were warned to clean graffiti from their own buildings and equipment or risk fines.
The council is also looking at offering a graffiti clearing service to utility firms and bigger businesses, including Network Rail and the Royal Mail, as a way of bringing in extra income.
The council said on its website: “If there is offensive graffiti in public places, our street cleaning team will come and remove or paint over it.
“Offensive graffiti contains words or pictures which are
- Hate comments
- Extremist sentiment
- Anti-faith
- Swear words
…
“We aim to remove offensive graffiti within 24 hours of it being reported to us. Please tell us about offensive graffiti if you see it.
Ban possession and sales of spray paint a for a year.
Artists who use them must agree with the council the design and location to get permission.
Hi, I understand your frustration but how can you ban the possession of paint? And, how can you possibly ban the sale of paint, you can buy spray paint in every city on the planet, also you can buy it from Amazon. 😶
Agree a million percent Derek!
Ban the sale and possession of spray paint and cans.
Artists must prove they have the wall owner’s permission and get agreement from local residents as to the design and location.
Brighton and Hove City council wastes over £750 million pounds a year.