Halifax councillor gets his washing up gloves on to clean up graffiti-covered play area

Councillor Joe Thompson, a Labour member who was elected to represent Town ward earlier this year, saw the state of Akroyd Park, near Bankfield Museum in Boothtown and decided to take action himself.

The slide, roundabout and other children's equipment had been covered in spray paint and pen.

The words scrawled on the slide included offensive language.

"It only took a couple of hours and £6 spent on Marigolds, scrubbers, and nail polish remover, but that's worth it," said Councillor Thompson.

"I actually had a few kids come up and chat to me whilst I was cleaning it - probably aged between 10 and 14 - and one of them commented on how they've graffitied on it before but wouldn't do it again!

"Another said it looked quite fun to clean up, which I'm not sure I'd agree with!

"The reality is that there might be more graffiti back there soon and me cleaning up those bits is only a small change. But if that change makes those kids tell people not to graffiti, or if it makes someone on Facebook go out and clean near them, then it's achieved something."

Councillor Thompson said he would also be requesting a further clean up and repaint of the park from Calderdale Council.

People have been posting their appreciation for his actions on social media.

One said: "Thank you so much. I was there this morning with my three-year-old grandson and couldn't help but feel sad at the state of it."

Another said: "This is awesome, thank you. I take my toddler in there several times a week and it was depressing."

And one said: "My little girl loves this park, thank you so much for doing this!