SWINDON Council leader Rod Bluh has followed in the footsteps of a former Prime Minister.

For the councillor was so fed up with seeing graffiti scrawled on the old canal walls between the Oasis and Hawksworth Industrial Estate he decided to help clean it off himself.

Mr Blair famously used a jet washer to clean off tags in Toothill two years ago when launching the Government's Respect agenda in the town.

But Coun Bluh's hands-on approach was all about sending out a clear message that graffiti will not be tolerated in Swindon.

Coun Bluh believes the council is better off clearing the paint completely rather than leaving it and allowing things to get worse.

He said: "I used to walk down this path on the way to work and it always used to wind me up, partly because they are quite nice walls and they are defaced by graffiti.

"It feels really good to be doing this now.

"We are of the thinking that if you clean up areas the graffiti comes back much more slowly but if you leave it on it gets worse.

"It's all about people respecting their environment.

"It's a war of attrition really, now it is about making sure we stay on top of it."

Coun Bluh also believes the council has been able to successfully decrease the amount of graffiti after teaming-up with police and the Advertiser to catch vandals during the Grass-up Graffiti campaign.

He said: "We had a reward scheme with the Advertiser and the police caught 13 people, some parents even turned in their own children.

"Since then graffiti has decreased. Therefore, it shows usually it is a small group of people doing the bulk of the damage."

The council, which spends about £250,000 a year on removal projects throughout Swindon, says graffiti has dropped by 60 per cent in the past year.

Posters have been put up around the power-washed areas to warn vandals that temporary CCTV cameras are in place to catch people in the act.

The council is also threatening vandals with civil action in order to recover more of the cost of cleaning up the damaged areas.