New Brighton play area vandalised before it is finished

Parts of Queen’s Park, Brighton, have been closed since September so contractors could build the bespoke play equipment as part of the city’s park improvement plans.

But parents are furious as the new equipment has been covered in graffiti before their children have even had a chance to use it.

Construction work is not yet complete (Image: Submitted)

“Me and my son have been watching the work over time so to see it like this is just tragic,” said one parent, who asked to remain anonymous.

“We have waited such a long time for this, it’s heartbreaking.

“All us parents just feel that tagging in Brighton is out of control. There’s no real comeback for people tagging.”

Parents are furious at the vandalism (Image: Submitted)

Brighton and Hove City Council confirmed yesterday that parts of the play equipment will now need to be removed for repairs.

Lead councillor for the environment Tim Rowkins said: “Tagging has blighted the city for too long and has only got worse.

Children will now have to wait even longer to use the play area (Image: Submitted)

“It is a form of vandalism and prolific taggers ought to face the consequences of their actions.

“It is incredibly upsetting that the brand new play equipment at Queen’s Park was tagged before its installation was even complete.

“Unfortunately, due to the location of the graffiti on the equipment we need to remove some parts of to deal with it We will be doing this next week.”

The city council said it is considering increasing the fixed penalty notice for graffiti from £150 to £500.

Many parts of the equipment have been hit (Image: Submitted)

READ MORE: Eastbourne trains halted due to shopping trolley on track

“We will shortly launch a consultation on our graffiti tagging reduction strategy,” said Cllr Rowkins.

“This is our route to improving the situation and it’s important to us that we seek meaningful input from those who are impacted by tagging offences in the city.

“We’re keen to explore new ideas about how to tackle tagging offences in the city and would love to hear from residents and businesses on how they think we can continue to prevent, enforce, remove and monitor tagging offences in the future."