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Young offenders scrub buildings clean of graffiti in Belfast city centre

Graffiti removal at the former Bank of Ireland Art Deco building in Royal Avenue by the Probation Service and Belfast City Council Picture Mal McCann.
Graffiti removal at the former Bank of Ireland Art Deco building in Royal Avenue by the Probation Service and Belfast City Council Picture Mal McCann. Graffiti removal at the former Bank of Ireland Art Deco building in Royal Avenue by the Probation Service and Belfast City Council Picture Mal McCann.

YOUNG offenders have been taking part in a new initiative to scrub buildings clean of graffiti around Belfast city centre.

It is part of a new service offered by Belfast City Council in partnership with the Probation Board for Northern Ireland to remove `non-contentious' graffiti across the city.

Those involved are under community service orders.

The council has no statutory duty to remove graffiti, but it does so when alerted to its existence.

However, contentious, offensive, sectarian and racist graffiti with the permission of the property owner to ensure "the health and safety of council staff is not compromised".

The scheme run in conjunction with the Probation Board is designed to ensure requests to remove non-contentious graffiti are met "more quickly and efficiently".

Requests to have graffiti removed from private property are handled by the Council call centre, on 028 9027 0230.

After the nature of the graffiti is assessed, then non-contentious cases are referred to the dedicated Probation Community Service team to remove.

Cheryl Lamont, Chief Executive of Probation, said the service gives "an opportunity to offenders to make good on the harm they have caused to local communities as well as improving the environment for the citizens of Belfast".