THE decision to paint over a controversial mural was taken to ensure soldiers were not offended...not because of a public backlash, it has been claimed

A mural on Canvey seawall depicting the troubles in Northern Ireland sparked uproar from some people living on the island. The objections prompted Colin Letchford, from Friends of Concord Beach, to paint over it.

He said: “One of our talented artists, Richard Ashton, lectures on the history of mural painting.

“He offered to paint a mural on the history of mural painting starting with the cavemen and ending with modern street art. Our trustees agreed to the mural and a site was chosen away from the mainstream play beaches.

“Our intention is to produce a booklet titled The Canvey Island Mural Trail with an introduction to why murals are painted.

“Each mural on the wall would have its own page with a short description.”

There are 40 separate elements - with the troubles in Northern Ireland only taking up three per cent of the overall mural.

Mr Letchford added: “No-one raised concerns about the content of the mural. Indeed many people walking past who saw the mural developing stopped to praise his work.

“We, Friends of Concord Beach, also received many reports from people saying how they were looking forward to the completed mural and so the mural progressed.”

After being approached by the Echo, Mr Letchford contacted the Royal British Legion and was told that the branch had a number of veterans who had served in Ireland - one with post-traumatic stress disorder because of what he had seen. The depiction of the Irish Republican Army on the wall was causing them distress.

Mr Letchford then contacted artist Mr Ashton and they agreed to repaint that section of the mural - despite many people saying they would be sorry to see it go.

Mr Letchford said: “At no time during the month this small section of the mural was on view was I contacted by the legion or politicians so we had no opportunity to respond to concerns.”