A staggering £250,000 of taxpayers’ money has been spent on removing graffiti daubed on sites around the Dudley borough, it can be revealed.

The shock figure, exclusively obtained by the Express & Star, represents the cost of cleaning up the eyesore over the past five years.

The news has outraged senior councillors who say the cash could be better spent elsewhere.

In its most recent clean-ups, the council forked out almost £53,000 to scrub graffiti off more than a thousand different sites across the borough.

Yobs are responsible for daubing everything from children’s play equipment to community centres and the new £500,000 footbridge linking Dudley town centre to Kates Hill was targeted by spray cans within days of being opened.

The figures were obtained through a Freedom of Information request.

Liberal Democrats leader, councillor Dave Tyler, said it was scandalous that so much cash had to be “squandered” on getting rid of the scrawl.

“I’m not surprised by how much it costs because often councillors put in requests for graffiti to be cleaned off especially offensive graffiti,” he said.

“What does surprise me is that parents are not asking why their child is going out with a marker pen in their pocket.

“All our playgrounds are plastered in graffiti and of course most of it is garbage along the lines of “Sharon loves Darren”.

“Money is being squandered on getting rid of graffiti so we need to do all we can to convince young people that if they don’t graffiti public spaces other facilities could be provided.”

UKIP councillor Malcolm Davis said the root of the problem was boredom.

He said: “I don’t condone graffiti but if there is nothing to keep our young people amused then it is inevitable.”

EXCLUSIVE by Heather Loat