Trust to make a clean sweep on the estates (From Warrington Guardian)

Trust to make a clean sweep on the estates

WEAVER Vale Housing Trust is set to embark on a sweeping graffiti clean-up on estates across Winsford tomorrow, Thursday.

Special cleaning machines will be dispatched across estates such as the Grange and Over, as staff try to wipe away the graffiti from around 20 properties in the town.

Weaver Vale housing manager Jackie Hodgson said: "The graffiti on the Grange Estate will be cleaned up tomorrow along with a whole lot of other areas.

"We carry out regular estate inspections and have spent quite a lot of money removing it.

"It has not really been a problem on the Grange Estate and is more of a problem on the Over Estate. If the graffiti was found to be racist or particularly offensive then we would act immediately to clear it."

Town councillor Peter Gannon thinks that local authorities investing in improved street lighting could help solve the problem.

He said: "We have got a problem with some lighting being out and it gives vandals anonymity under a cloak of darkness.

"We have got a battle with anti-social behaviour and the lights being out doesn't help the situation."

Mike Kennedy, chairman of the Grange Residents' Association, added: "A lot of the estate has had new lighting but there are still many alleyways between streets and 40-year-old lights.

"Weaver Vale Housing Trust has made a lot of investment in housing but other groups need to carry out more investment in the community now."

rfraser@guardiangrp.co.uk