Stoke-on-Trent City Council has experienced a significant increase in graffiti complaints following a local trend of painting England flags on public infrastructure including roundabouts and zebra crossings. The council acknowledged it has been unable to respond to graffiti removal requests as quickly as desired, with response times extending well beyond normal parameters.
The issue came to light during a recent meeting of the housing, regeneration and operations overview and scrutiny committee. Carol Gibbs, director of housing, development and growth, addressed the committee about the unusual circumstances behind the complaint surge. "We have not been able to respond to the graffiti as quickly as we wanted to," Gibbs explained. "Please be aware that the reporting of graffiti was all around the painting of England flags across a number of areas."
Gibbs further detailed how the situation developed rapidly across the city. "So what happened was literally overnight or a few nights we saw that huge spike. The only way we could report that was through the graffiti page. That's why there has been a big spike in that," she told committee members. The England flag painting trend swept through Stoke-on-Trent during late August, creating an unprecedented workload for city maintenance crews.
While the council has not yet released graffiti cleanup data for the July to September period, earlier figures reveal that complaint numbers were already rising before the flag painting phenomenon began. Between April and June 2024, the council received 54 complaints about offensive graffiti and 63 complaints about non-offensive graffiti. During that same period, the average response time was 10.6 days for removing offensive graffiti and 10.5 days for non-offensive graffiti.
However, response times deteriorated significantly in the corresponding period this year. Between April and June of this year, removal times increased dramatically to 15.1 days for non-offensive graffiti and 15.7 days for offensive graffiti. The complaint volume remained relatively stable during this period, with the council receiving 57 complaints about offensive graffiti and 63 complaints about non-offensive graffiti.
City officials attributed the delays in the April to June period to staff shortages due to employee absences and the department's focus on addressing fly-tipping issues throughout the city. These operational challenges created a backlog that was further complicated by the subsequent surge in England flag-related complaints during the late summer months.
