WORK has been completed to remove graffiti from Stourport Bridge following a £1.5 million award-winning renovation and repainting.

The bridge was defaced by graffiti in September, just a few months after Worcestershire County Council received a silver award in the Green Apple Awards 2009 for its refurbishment works to the 139-year-old structure.

Derek Prodger, the county council’s cabinet member for transport and safe environment, said he hoped the bridge would continue to be an attractive centrepiece in the town.

He said: “It was so disappointing when we heard that the bridge had been vandalised, especially as we have worked so hard to refurbish a piece of architecture which the whole community is proud of.

“It is clear that this sort of vandalism not only looks unsightly but it also reflects unfavourably on the area and community as a whole and so we felt it was only right to step in and clean it up.

“My only hope is that those responsible learn to take pride in their community and its architecture.”