RESIDENTS and businesses in the Fishergate and Hull Road areas of York are facing costly repair bills following an onslaught of unsightly graffiti.

A wave of graffiti "tags" - the logos graffiti pests use to mark their "work" - have appeared on the sides of buildings, traffic bollards and bus shelters along Walmgate, Lawrence Street, Hull Road and Heslington Road.

City of York Council are now urging local people to utilise a new Street Environment Service, set up last month to fight the rising problem.

Michelle Rawson, of Kelly May's snack bar in Lawrence Street, said they recently repainted the front of the shop to cover up graffiti, only for more to appear over the weekend.

"I've seen it all over York. Other than go on 24-hour watch, there's nothing you can do," she said.

"We've been at this shop for nine years now and it's never been like this before."

Bill Turner, manager of Hull Road Kwik Save, said: "We have been having problems for the last eight weeks with graffiti and kids setting fire to the recycling bins.

"I used to be a store manager in Leeds and I came here for a quiet life."

He said the company will now have to fork out £1,500 just to clean the graffiti at the front of the store.

Coun Andrew Waller, executive member for environment and sustainability, said anyone who sees or suffers graffiti should contact the Street Environment Line on 01904 551551.

He said that the council was developing official policy so that incidents were recorded and cleaned within a certain time span, and they were able to clean private buildings for a reasonable charge.

"I visited the Hull Road area in August and I found a real problem with a lot of street furniture," he said.

"If we are going to put something up, we have to think about how easily it can be defaced and if this can be removed. We are also looking a how we can put this into planning permission.

"For a tourist city it is very important to deal with this problem."

Updated: 10:47 Thursday, October 09, 2003