Vandalised bridges in a South Staffordshire village will be left covered in graffiti because of red tape — after British Waterways said that only “specialists” could scrub it off.

Members of Wombourne’s Best Kept Village committee had been ordered to take training before being allowed to scrub off spray paint.

But the organisation that is in charge of protecting the bridges said the clean-up operated required “specialist attention” and that it could not afford the £2,000 bill to have them cleaned.

Wombourne Parish Council chairman Barry Bond said: “It is quite a ridiculous state of affairs when there is so much red tape that it stops good work like this.

“The bridges are in a real state and they are quite an eyesore.

“It is not going to go down very well with the judging committee for the awards when they see the bridges and it won’t help out chance of doing well in the contest.”

Bridges, near Ounsdale Road and Giggetty Lane, were hit. Volunteers, wanting to clean them for more than a year, hoped to better a second place finish in a county village contest.

Contest criteria includes cleanliness and quality of pubs, churches, phone boxes and bus shelters. Competition judges are due to visit the village in May.

British Waterways, which owns the bridges, said they had concerns brickwork may be damaged if volunteers did work and chemicals could leak into the water.

Spokesman Stephen Hardy welcomed the interest but said: “Removing graffiti from canal bridges is a task that requires specialist attention as it carries a risk of damaging the historic brickwork or causing pollution and harm to wildlife for which British Waterways would face prosecution.

“We do not have the budget to carry out the work as out main responsibility is for the maintenance of canals for navigation.”