Councillors speak out as graffiti continues to plague Bognor Regis town centre

They say the graffiti, which has appeared outside empty and operating storefronts, tourist hotspots, and sites along the seafront and soon-to-be refurbished Alexandria Theatre, is costly to remove, takes up valuable police and town force time, and makes Bognor Regis less attractive to visitors, which is especially problematic as the town tries to revitalise itself.

"It’s just getting worse all the time. It's everywhere,” said Bognor Regis Town Councillor Phil Woodall. “The Town Force can’t keep up with it. They’re the guys who clean it off and there are other things they need to be doing. It’s also costing a fortune in council tax payer’s money. For me, that’s the biggest issue.”

He made clear that all the time, and all the equipment, dedicated to removing the graffiti is paid for by tax-payers, who could be getting better value for their money.

“When Town Force cleans a wall, they take a picture before and they take a picture after. So there are all these photos at the town hall of graffitied walls, and you can see the same tags popping up over and over again. They also measure the time and cost of each job. And this one tag cost, over a period of time, about £11,000 to remove."

His feelings were echoed by another town councillor. Claire Needs, who said “something needs to be done to stop (graffiti) happening in the first place.

"I know it isn’t an easy thing to stop, but there really does need to be some kind of deterrent put in place to stop youngsters thinking it is okay to ruin the look of towns by spraying needlessly on things."