Crane helps clean up tags
A cherry picker has been hired to help clean up graffiti tags scrawled on buildings across Leicester.
The city council brought in the crane to clean up four vandalised sites yesterday, including a church, former railway bridge, homes and a row of garages.
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The cherry picker is used to clean off graffiti
They warned that culprits were putting themselves at risk by scrawling graffiti on the high-up locations – as well as costing the council money and spoiling the environment.
The council's graffiti manager Hughie Blair said: "It's very rare we need to do this. But we have had four high-level tags like this in the last four months.
"When the graffiti is done this high it makes it harder to clean up, but it is unsafe for the people doing it, too.
"Those garage roofs are not built for a person's weight.
"If a kid walks on them to spray a tag it's very dangerous, they could fall through and get trapped."
Yesterday's project saw the team tackle graffiti nearly 50ft high on the roof at St Gabriel's Church, Kerrysdale Avenue, in Rushey Mead, with the help of a cherry picker crane.
They removed tags from the top of 8ft high roofs of garages in Bramall Road, Humberstone, and 20ft high from homes in Redwing Walk, also Humberstone.
They also cleaned up graffiti from the former Great Central Railway bridge, at Marsden Lane, Aylestone.
The council's graffiti team used the crane to reach the high up graffiti and then used chemical and steam cleaning to remove the tags. It was hired for the day at a cost of £700.
From Monday, the council will also spend a week clearing up lower lying graffiti from Bramall Road.
Jane Furborough, who lives on the street, said: "The graffiti is atrocious. It really brings the area down."
Another 38-year-old woman, who did not want to be named, said: "It's everywhere. But whenever it is cleaned up, they just do it again."
A 44-year-old who said his door was once kicked in when he stood up to graffiti vandals, said: "I'm embarrassed for people to visit because it's so bad."
Leicester City Council spends £300,000 battling graffiti each year. A spokesman said: "It is important in the fight against graffiti crime that people report incidents to the police, so that we can catch these culprits."
A Leicestershire Police spokeswoman said: "Tackling graffiti and criminal damage is a beat priority for the Bramall Road area."
4 Comments
by Mark Johnson, Leicster
Wednesday, March 11 2009, 10:01AM
“I can never understand why the sale of spray paints and industrial marker pens isn't restricted or at least recorded (the way TV and car sales are) with a sample making uses of that can traceable.
It's probably impossible to 100% eliminate graffiti, but would make an absolutely massive dent in incidents.”
by Mark Johnson, Leicster
Wednesday, March 11 2009, 9:57AM
“james, you may be. You should ring Crimestoppers. Graffitti is a serious offense often done by teenagers who if not given a helping hand changing there ways, often go onto to commit strings of other crimes.”
by james woodgate, leicester
Wednesday, March 04 2009, 11:59AM
“omg thats at humberstone road i think i may know who this perpatrator is would i be paid if i say who it was?”
by John Stitch, Leicester Town
Thursday, February 26 2009, 12:29PM
“£300,000 of public money just to clear it up, goodness knows how much again spent by the Police and the courts chasing after the perpetrators.
I wonder how that figure compares to the total amount of fines actually finally paid by those who are caught. Theoretically it should more than cover that cost - and then that still leaves communities' environments blighted and Council workers engaged in work that holds them up doing something more worthwhile. It's time that this activity was taken far more seriously by courts and more suitable fines AND punishments given out.”