Anti-graffiti street murals trial

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/wales/north_east/6228819.stm

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Artists are being employed in Denbighshire to create murals on walls which are "vulnerable" to graffiti.

The scheme is one of several measures - including fixed penalties - being trialled by council staff in a bid to combat graffiti.

A report to be discussed on Thursday says Denbighshire does not suffer from large amounts of graffiti.

But the problem is prevalent in some areas, and there are fears it could lead to more crime.

The council has bought a specialist graffiti removal machine which is operated by its environmental services department.

But further measures are recommended in the report to councillors, including spraying vulnerable surfaces with a protective film which allows graffiti to be wiped off easily.

Before: The council believes murals could transform walls like these

The report adds: "A similar, more conventional approach will also be trialled, whereby local artists are employed to create mural designs on vulnerable walls.

"In the past, this has been found to discourage the incidence of graffiti."

The report says council staff are also to be given powers in conjunction with North Wales Police allowing them to enforce fixed penalty notices for graffiti offences.

The authority is also to work more closely with police and the probation service in order to identify graffiti offences and compile databases of offenders.