VIDEO: Graffiti-busting machine to clean Worthing and Adur streets

A CLEAN, mean, graffiti-busting machine will be touring Worthing and Adur to rid the streets of unsightly marks.

The new hi-tech vehicle will be used by Worthing and Adur councils’ graffiti removal team each time offensive or unsightly material needs removing.

The vehicle is equipped with everything the team need to remove all kinds of paint, as well as chewing gum and other materials.

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Ian Smith, who is part of the council’s graffiti removal team and believes he is the south’s longest-serving graffiti-buster, said: “This vehicle is excellent – we have every tool at our disposal to get rid of paints of all types in a clean, environmentally-friendly way.”

When graffiti or other permanent vandalism is reported to the council by the public or police, the removal team plan when and how to remove it.

Offensive material, particularly graffiti in children’s play areas, is removed within 24 hours – usually early in the morning, before people are in the vicinity. The council currently removes 89 per cent of all graffiti within two days of it being reported.

Graffiti is removed by applying chemicals to the affected area, and then a hot-water jet washer is sprayed to wash away the residue.

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Ian added: “When I tell people what I do for a living, they don’t believe there’s a need for it because they say they don’t see enough graffiti around – that’s because we are on the streets removing it as soon as we possibly can.”

Pawel Stemplewski, who works alongside Ian, said the vehicle is so effective it contains chemicals which were able to remove a rubberised paint on the outside of a house, which usually proves impossible to remove.

Graffiti can be reported in a number of ways.

Call the 24-hour recorded hotline on 01903 221090, send a text message to 07624 808 248 (normal charges apply), email [email protected] or visit www.worthing.gov.uk/dev/reportit/graffiti-step1.asp

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