GRAFFITI GIVES BAD IMPRESSION

Bath,England,UK

BY LAURA MATLESS

11:00 - 02 August 2004

England is in the grip of a graffiti epidemic and people could be put off Bath by the sight of daubs on walls, according to an environmental charity. New research published today by Keep Britain Tidy, says top graffiti hotspots are train stations and subways - which the charity says gives visitors to cities like Bath a terrible first impression.

The charity also says that advertisers, pop stars and art buffs who rave about the style should bear the brunt of the blame for the epidemic.

The scrawls are particularly damaging for a city like Bath which relies on its beautiful architecture to attract tourists

Ten days ago, a Bath teenager admitted causing more than £50,000 of graffiti damage to buildings in and around the city.

The teenager, who cannot be named, will appear in court this month to be sentenced.

At Avon Street car park, he covered stairwells with stickers and spray paint tags - a graffiti artist's signature - causing £3,000 of damage.

Other locations to suffer included the pedestrian subway in Widcombe, more than 200 lamp-posts, Bath Rugby's Blackthorn stand at the Rec, rear doors at the Golden Cot toy shop in Swallow Street, a Grade II listed building in Brock Street, refuse bins and the TA centre on Upper Bristol Road.

Bath is combating graffiti with the Anti Graffiti Partnership, which was set up around three years ago by the police, Bath and North East Somerset Council, city business and residents.

Inge Shepherd is part of the group and team manager of the community safety and drug action team at the council.

She said: "We have put extra resources into machinery and trained more staff."

The survey, which was carried out anonymously, also showed that while 89 per cent of local authorities believed graffiti was a problem - over half had no hotline for their residents to report incidents and 53 per cent had no dedicated team set up to clean it off.

Ms Shepherd said: "I am pleased to say that Bath does have a dedicated line for graffiti.

"Our youth services are working with young people on diversionary projects such as sanctioned graffiti sites and we are looking for a suitable area."

But Ms Booth of Keep Britain Tidy said: "Graffiti is crime, it's as simple as that and giving someone a wall to write on is like giving a burglar a house full of goods to practise breaking and entering."