Graffiti is a criminal offence under the Criminal Damage Act 1971. It is considered criminal damage and anti-social behaviour. If you see graffiti being carried out, please report it to the police and provide any information that may help identify the offender.

Stratford-on-Avon District Council's Responsibilities

Property owners are responsible for removing graffiti from their own property.

• Canal & River Trust is responsible for canal towpaths.
• Warwickshire County Council is responsible for most public highways, road signs and bridges.
• Rail operators are responsible for railway bridges and associated infrastructure.
• Openreach is responsible for most telecommunications cabinets and kiosks. In some cases, Virgin Media may be responsible for telecommunications cabinets.

If you are aware who owns the land owner or asset it is advised to contact them direct.

Stratford-on-Avon District Council is only responsible for removing graffiti on the land or assets that it directly owns.

If graffiti is offensive (i.e of a racist or sexual nature etc.) we can arrange for it to be removed within 24 hours.

How do I report graffiti to Stratford-on-Avon District Council?

Instances of graffiti should be reported to us via our street cleansing form.

Before reporting graffiti to us, we recommend checking who owns the property or asset on which the graffiti is located.

If the graffiti is not on Council-owned land or property, we may contact the owner and request that they remove it. However, we cannot require the owner to take action, and removal is not guaranteed.

If you have already contacted the owner and the graffiti remains in place four weeks after your initial report, please contact us for further advice.

Removing graffiti

If you would like to help to tackle graffiti, or if you would like to remove graffiti from your own property, we have a supply of graffiti removal kits available to loan for this use.

Other options for graffiti removal are:

• painted surfaces - painting over graffiti is a cheap, quick and a non-damaging solution. Do not use paint remover, thinners, white or methylated spirit; these will attack the base of the paint
• timber fencing - in some cases, it is possible to sand down the surface and re-paint or stain
• glass, plastic or metal surfaces - white or methylated spirit should remove most paints or marker pen ink. Do not use abrasive materials or cleaners

We recommend that volunteers review our risk assessment template before undertaking graffiti removal, using one of our kits. This is to help identify and mitigate any potential hazards. You can view this here: Graffiti Removal Risk Assessment

Contact

• Email: info@stratford-dc.gov.uk
• Telephone: 01789 260616