West Midlands launches crackdown on the city's bus graffiti vandals
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• Efforts to combat graffiti and vandalism on its buses have been stepped up by operator West Midland Travel, which estimates the cost of re pairing the damage at 21.5 million a year.
Video cameras have been fitted to buses in Wolverhampton, Coventry, West Bromwich and central Birmingham. Eventually West Midlands Travel hopes to equip its entire fleet of 1,500 vehicles.
A security unit has been set up to spearhead the campaign and already 73 people face prosecution on vandalism charges.
West Midlands Travel says: "We have launched this attack on vandalism because of the rising cost of the damage. Last year we repaired 26,000 bus seats, and buses were out of action for seven days because they needed graffiti removed."
Last year police mounted an under-cover operation on West Midland Travel buses to combat the problem of vandalism. More than 50 people were booked-as a result.