Rotherham Council's five-figure graffiti clean-up bill

The amount placed RMBC 31st among local authorities for clearing wall scrawlings, research from building firm Structural Repairs showed.

Rotherham had 247 reports of graffiti during 2019, down from 266 the previous year.

The council with the most number of reports last year was Hackney, with a massive 29,236 reports. Glasgow was left with the biggest bill — spending £649,914.

RMBC said its calculation of £24,276 was based on an estimate of the resources used to undertake the clearance work as the authority does not specifically record the actual costs of graffiti removal.

A spokesman added: “The number of graffiti incidents in the borough over 2019 were seven per cent lower than 2018.

“We are projecting a slight increase on graffiti reports for 2020, however the volumes this year have not been significantly different and have not had a major impact on the service.”

Structural Repairs requested data from 381 councils in the UK.