A GRAFFITI-SCRUBBING effort came to nothing when vandals sprayed tags over an area that had just been cleaned.

Last week, graffiti on a wall opposite the Volk’s Electric Railway kiosk in Madeira Drive, Brighton, was cleared off – but days later, the wall was again covered in tags.

One fuming resident complained the newly renovated patch had lasted just two days before it was targeted.

The 50-year-old, who lives in Marine Parade, said: “There’s been graffiti in that area for years and they removed most of it the other day with special chemicals.

“But while on a walk there the other morning, I saw a tagger down there and I heard him shout ‘I’m keeping you in work’ to a graffiti removal person.”

“We need to send a clear message to these damaged individuals that this vandalism isn’t acceptable in our city.”

He called for a crackdown on graffiti, with “24/7 patrols” and “prison or fines for the taggers”.

“I’ve lived in Brighton for 17 years and it’s become much more of an issue in the last two,” he said.

“We’ve got to put these taggers in prison or give them something to deter them.”

He said graffiti was “awful on the eye” and blamed “bad parenting” – though he said he had even seen 40-year-old men out spraying graffiti in Brighton.

He said: “There were obscenities there – words like ‘f***’ and ‘c***’ which are not acceptable for kids to walk past.

“I come from a generation where you wouldn’t dream of doing anything like that. It’s not even artistic.

“One of the tags just said: ‘Unknown’.

“That’s rubbish. What does that mean?”

The Argus has previously spoken to a graffiti artist who also criticised tagging as un-artistic.

He wished to remain anonymous, saying: “If they know who I am they’ll ruin my stuff. But I’m not a fan of tagging.

“I do know why they do it though.

“It’s nothing to do with art. It’s about getting your name up there. P***ing off Joe Public is part of it.

“They think it’s anti-establishment. I don’t consider my own stuff that way. I just like to paint walls. But the tagging scene is completely different.

“They’re out on top of old buildings, like they were on the scaffold around St Peter’s Church.

“The guy was climbing up at 4am, leaving his heart-shaped tag which became kind of infamous, probably after a few cold drinks.

“I’m really against doing stuff on historic buildings – it’s a case of respect. I don’t do any illegals.

“But among the tagging fraternity there’s real kudos about getting it in inaccessible places.

“I know people who’ve done trains and ended up in prison for a few years. That’s when there’s a real campaign against them and it builds up.

“A tag is a couple of seconds’ work. Mine take four to five hours minimum, and people love them.

“We’re at opposite ends of the spectrum.”

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokeswoman said: "Graffiti is an escalating problem in the city - it’s vandalism that costs time and money to put right.

"We had employed a company to remove graffiti on Madeira Drive and it’s disheartening to see tagged again very soon after.

"Our Environmental Enforcement Officers patrol until 8pm at night and they will stop and fine anyone they see, but taggers are good at avoiding detection and being caught.  

"We can’t remove all the graffiti in the city but please let us know about any graffiti you see on public land and offensive graffiti on private property.

"We also have a community clean-up scheme which could give you supplies to paint over graffiti in your local area."