A balance required

Middlesbrough,England,UK

Art or vandalism? is the question we pose this morning on the thorny subject of graffiti.

On the one hand we have several North-East councils creating legal graffiti sites for those with the inclination to spray away to their hearts' content.

On the other we have the Keep Britain Tidy campaign with the Ray Mallon-esque stance of zero tolerance, proposing on-the-spot fines for those caught and a ban on the sale of aerosol sprays to under 16s.

The councils, fed up with complaints from their residents, and no doubt the costly bill for the removal of wall scrawl, believe the way ahead is to channel the graffiti artist's desire to be creative into one area.

Keep Britain Tidy see all graffiti as an eyesore - full stop.

Both may be missing the point.

There are various forms of graffiti. The majority is the `Dazza luvs Shazza' guff that makes subways all the more threatening - and no doubt annoys `Gazza' who `luvs Shazza' more than `Dazza' a bit further along the wall.

The rest are cracking pieces of visual art that would knock spots off pieces in galleries around the world.

To deny the artists the opportunity to share their talent with the world would be almost criminal.

The councils need to understand the effect the `INCH' mob have on ordinary folk walking the streets and how it blights our landscape.

Keep Britain Tidy needs to understand that areas should be created for those genuine artists to display their works.

It would seem a Catch 22 situation and until an effective solution is discovered, all must be done to stamp out the scrawl whilst encouraging the art.

It may seem like we're sitting on the fence - no doubt one where `Shazza' defends her honour.