GRAFFITI is springing up across a village near Worcester and even the welcome sign has been attacked as residents fight 'a losing battle'.

The vandals have attacked the Rushwick sign welcoming people to the village which has since been cleaned as residents and the parish council battle to clean up after them. 

A regular target for the vandals has been the Bransford Road underpass, just off the Southern Link Road. Vandals have left tags on road signs and beneath the underpass with residents saying the situation has been getting worse since the spring. 

It follows reports of a spate of attacks on bridges elsewhere in Worcester, many of them spanning the A4440 Southern Link Road.

Worcester News: TAG: Graffiti on a sign near the Bransford Road underpass in Rushwick TAG: Graffiti on a sign near the Bransford Road underpass in Rushwick (Image: James Connell/Newsquest)

Rushwick Parish Council and Worcestershire County Council are said to be aware of the problem and have made efforts to clean off the tags.

One of those cleaning off the graffiti is the parish council lengthsman, Tim Hughes, who cleaned the sign and painted over tags in the underpass.

He said: "Graffiti is still very much a problem, especially in the underpass on the Bransford Road in Rushwick. Some of these are offensive, and some are tasteful but all the same, it is a problem."

Worcester News: MESS: Efforts have been made to paint over the tags in Rushwick such as this one under the Bransford Road underpass MESS: Efforts have been made to paint over the tags in Rushwick such as this one under the Bransford Road underpass (Image: James Connell/Newsquest)

The matter has been reported to Worcestershire County Council via the online reporting tool and mentioned to West Mercia Police. No official crime reference numbers have been supplied to enable the force to comment.

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"I've painted over some of the graffiti and Worcestershire County Council has painted over some," he added. 

One Rushwick resident, who did not wish to be named, said: "Councils in the area need to nip this in the bud otherwise graffiti will be all over the place. At the moment it seems like they're fighting a losing battle.

"They seem to be becoming bolder - 'Sven' for example. Maybe a campaign to identify these vandals might stop it from becoming even worse."

We reported in April how the Broomhall Way Footbridge which crosses the A4440 Southern Link Road is one of the worst affected by the vandalism - the tags appearing less than two years after the bridge opened.

However, other city bridges have also been targeted including the new bridge on Swinesherd Way, near County Hall in Worcester.

Worcestershire County Council has been approached for a comment.