Cracking Down on Graffiti throughout Dorset

Outbreaks of graffiti have occurred repeatedly around the Dorset area in the past 4 months. The areas of Weymouth, Verwood, and Bournemouth have all suffered attacks of graffiti vandalism recently.

Weymouth has recently seen trouble from groups of boozy youngsters. A total of thirteen arrests were made from drunken brawls at night, and four youths were ordered to clean the graffiti they had scrawled in the Park District. The section commander for Weymouth and Portland has introduced a zero tolerance policy on these sort of instances, launching a ‘Drink Safe, Street Safe' campaign throughout the town.

Similarly, the councilor of Verwood has been appointed to eradicate the repeating incidents of graffiti on a certain building site within the village, and has urged the public to help identify the culprit.

Whilst incidents in Bournemouth have focused on a certain cemetery in Christchurch, where graffiti vandals have painted swastikas on five wartime gravestones. The Reverend of the cemetery was shocked and appalled by the instances, and the Church itself has offered to pay to clean the offensive marks.

In response to these state of affairs, Bournemouth's recently elected Tory council have promised to campaign against youth gangs and graffiti vandalism, pointing to free graffiti removal for residents and community initiatives to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.

Public sector organisations that deal with the removal of graffiti for local councils will be appointed in order to tackle this problem. This will involve the use of anti graffiti coatings on targeted areas in order to prevent repeating occurrences of the offence. In addition these organisations will also be able to help maintain the cleanliness of local streets in general.

With this plan in force the local council expects to spend around £3500 per month on anti-graffiti costs. This is a significant reduction in cost compared to previous years, where costs between November '07 and March '09 were more than £92,000.

The council is also striving for community initiative by urging the public to report on any suspicious activity associated with graffiti and vandalism. The Bournemouth council website for example contains a graffiti report form that users can fill out and send both quickly and anonymously to the council.

With a combination of both government and public action, the local council hopes to these sorts of anti-social acts in order to maintain the beauty and charm of areas around Dorset.

This article was written by Community Clean

About Community Clean: We have a wide range of experience working in both the public and private sectors tackling nuisance issues, regeneration projects, high access challenges and environmental enhancement. Our specialist graffiti removal service involves the use of state-of-the-art machinery and the latest in highly advanced products to remove graffiti and paint from virtually any surface.

All facts taken from the Bournemouth Echo.