Graffiti and fly-posters are criminal damage.

Graffiti refers to any drawings, scribbles or ‘tags’ which are written, painted, sprayed or scratched on the surface of any property. Removing graffiti is costly and requires specialist equipment.

Flyposting is the act of placing advertising posters or flyers in illegal places

Enforcement

Graffiti is an environmental crime. The law allows our Enforcement Officers to issued £80 fixed penalty notices on-the-spot. You may also be prosecuted in court which carries large fines or even a prison sentence.

Graffiti removal

We are responsible for removing graffiti from public buildings, street furniture, litter bins, monuments, and playgrounds.

Private property

We are unable to remove graffiti from privately owned property.

Other items such as telephone boxes, bus shelters and electricity boxes are the responsibility of the company that has placed them there and can be reported via the below details.

Report graffiti

If you notice graffiti on council-owned property including litter bins, council houses, playgrounds and street furniture, please report it on our online form.

To help us deal with it quickly, please have the following details:

  • Where the graffiti is located
  • If the graffiti is offensive (racist, homophobic or religious)
  • Any evidence such as photos or videos

To report graffiti on council-owned property, please use our online form. If the graffiti is offensive (racist, homophobic or religious) we'll remove it by the end of the next working day

Please note all details received will be treated in the strictest of confidence and not disclosed to the target of your complaint. We may need to contact you for more information.

What happens next?

Your report will be passed to our Street Cleaning team and Environmental Enforcement Team for further investigation.