York's graffiti crackdown hailed 'a success' » Local Government » 24dash.com

City of York Council has cleared over 100 incidences of graffiti over the last month in a bid to crack down on anti-social behaviour.

The campaign was the third element of the authority's York Neighbourhood Pride campaign, which aims to build on the work of York Pride.

It focuses on issues that concern residents, such as the look of their local environment and feeling safe.

The authority's street scene team has worked on removing graffiti from council proprty in 16 of the 22 wards in the city, in addition to the day-to-day removal work that goes on throughout the year.

Terry Collins, the council' director of Neighbourhood Services, said: "Although it is not possible to remove every piece of graffiti or to ensure that surfaces remain graffiti  free forever, our team has been working hard to significantly reduce the size and significance of the problem across the city.

"The council's street environment team is also working closely with private landowners and utility companies to persuade them to get graffiti removed from their properties and to help them put a stop to it.

"Graffiti is not just aneyesore, but also affects the way that people feel about their local area, and has been shown to increase residents' fear of crime."