12:50am Saturday 5th June 2010
A NEW team of graffiti busters has been hired to tackle the problem of spray-vandals in Southend.
Community Clean has been contracted by Southend Council to clean off tags sprayed on council property.
The firm uses environmentally-friendly products to remove tags and coats surfaces with anti-graffiti paint, which can be wiped clean, to stop yobs in vandalism hotspots.
Tony Cox, councillor responsible for public protection promised the contract would save taxpayers money, since the job was previously done by council staff.
He explained: “Last year, we spent £128,500 on graffiti removal. This year, our contract with Community Clean will cost £98,000, a saving of more than £30,000.
“As far as we are concerned, we are getting more for less and it shows our determination to stay on top of the problem in the borough.”
Community Clean already works with several London boroughs.
The area around Chalkwell Station – a notorious graffiti hotspot – is already in the company’s sights.
Its sales and marketing manager, Sharon Parker, said: “We’ll have two teams in the town and they will be called into action by the council whenever somebody reports a problem.
“They are equipped with new vans and equipment and part of the added value we will be adding to the contract is our own identification of hotspots, which we will work on when not busy elsewhere.”
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