TAXPAYERS are forking out £230,000 a year to keep the town’s street’s free of graffiti.

But Swindon Council – which removed more than 11,500 tags from around the town, 31 tags a day at a cost of £20 each time – is confident the war is being won.

Coun Keith Williams, cabinet member for Streetscene, said: “Graffiti is an ongoing problem but I would say it is a problem we are well on top of in Swindon.

“I think the town is a very different place to what it was four or five years ago and there has been a series of initiatives that have brought the problem under control far more than it once was.

“Some graffiti art can have its place but where is the boundary between what is acceptable and what is not?

“With tagging, there is no real discernible talent behind it.

“It is purely people marking their territory like a feral cat and we are working on catching the culprits and I know there have been a number of successful prosecutions.”

But one disgruntled resident has decided to take the matter into his own hands.

The 67-year-old phantom graffiti cleaner, who wishes to remain anonymous has spent years buying his own supplies of ‘graffiti remover’ and cleaning up after the town’s vandals. He said: It’s hard work but I’m a pensioner so I’ve got plenty of time.

“And I wish more people did it. I don’t always ask permission from people but I can’t see that it’s an offence in taking stuff off public property for people’s good.

“There’s no excuse for defacing public property.”

In a statement, a spokesman for Swindon Council said they fully supported residents wanting to help keep their neighbourhoods clear of graffiti.

He said: “Tagging is an eyesore and we want to stamp it out wherever possible as it is a blight on communities.

“But it’s money the council can ill afford to spend in the current economic climate. So we are grateful to any residents who help clear up graffiti in their neighbourhood.”

The council’s StreetSmart team offers a free graffiti removal service for homeowners and aims to remove graffiti within 28 working days. You can also report a problem at www.swindon.gov.uk/graffiti or by calling the StreetSmart team at the Swindon Direct Contact Centre on 01793 445501.

Alternatively, you can visit the One Stop Shop in Beckhampton Street.