A WOMAN plagued by graffiti near her York home has hailed council plans to tackle such problems as 'fantastic.'

Lynette Mills said she felt City of York Council had listened to concerns and taken a decision which would benefit the city by allocating money towards cleaning up graffiti on public and private property.

The Press revealed recently that the authority was providing £47,000 to tackle graffiti on private premises across the city.

The newspaper had reported previously on how Mrs Mills had been battling to get graffiti removed from near her home in Foss Basin but had been told the council wouldn't sort it out because it was on private property.

She said she was also told that she and others in the same position could even - theoretically - be fined if they didn’t remove such graffiti themselves when asked.

Her comments came after York had recently seen an upsurge in graffiti sprayed on walls and posts including ones at Barbican, a hotel, club and York Cemetery.

The council’s new deputy leader, Andy D’Agorne, said he wanted a better policy on securing removal of graffiti from privately owned surfaces in public areas and executive member for community safety, Denise Craghill, pledged to raise Mrs Mills' concerns.

Mrs Mills said yesterday she hoped there would be zero tolerance towards graffiti in York and it would not be allowed to reappear.

"I would like to thank Cllr Andy D'Agorne for his support and encouragement, the York Press and especially Mike Laycock for his coverage and support and lastly the council for giving me a chance to talk to them at a budget meeting about the graffiti problem.," she said.

"Everyone played their part in getting this decision, which I know will benefit the city, the residents and the many visitors that come on a daily basis to our lovely city."