Graffiti removal across Cambridge
In Cambridge, graffiti turns up on shop shutters along busy streets, on the side walls of flats and offices, on fences beside alleys and cycle paths, and on the units of the industrial estates and retail parks around the city. The longer it stays, the more it tends to attract.
Locus Services removes graffiti across Cambridge and the towns and villages around it, from the city centre and Mill Road to Cherry Hinton, Chesterton and the business parks on the city’s edge. We’re based at Wicken, near Ely. We work out what the surface is and what the paint is before choosing a method, so the graffiti comes off and the brick, stone, render or coating underneath stays intact.
Graffiti removal: our work
Who removes graffiti in Cambridge?
Cambridge City Council removes graffiti from public land and treats offensive graffiti as a priority. On private property, its service has limits (Cambridge City Council):
- The landowner or occupier has to sign a waiver before the council will remove anything.
- It only works up to a safe height of two metres above the ground. Above that, it charges for hiring a cherry picker.
- It can’t remove graffiti that needs a specialist, for example on a historic wall or a painted surface. The owner has to hire a contractor.
- On bridges, it only removes offensive graffiti.
So graffiti that’s high up, on older brick or stone, or on a painted wall usually falls to the owner, landlord or managing agent to sort out. That’s the work we take on. Outside the city, check with your district council first.
Graffiti on historic buildings
Central Cambridge has a lot of listed buildings and conservation areas, and much of it is built in soft brick and stone. Historic England warns that removing graffiti from old buildings can be complex, and that cleaning by inexperienced contractors can leave stains, marks and lasting damage. It advises owners to use contractors with plenty of experience of graffiti on historic buildings (Historic England).
That’s how we approach older buildings:
- We identify the surface and the paint first, because both affect what will work.
- We try the method on a small, out-of-sight area and show you the result before going further.
- We use the gentlest method that works, often DOFF cleaning, which uses high-temperature steam at low pressure, or a remover suited to the surface.
- If your building is listed, speak to the council’s conservation team before work starts.
Surfaces we clean graffiti from
| Surface | Where it turns up | How we remove it |
|---|---|---|
| Gault brick and stone | Terraces, boundary walls and older shopfronts | DOFF steam or a gentle remover, after a test patch |
| Render and painted walls | Flats, offices and side walls | A remover matched to the finish, tested on a small area first |
| Metal shutters, doors and cladding | Shops, offices, labs and industrial units | Removers that lift the paint without stripping the factory coating |
| Glass, signs and street furniture | Shop windows, signs, bins and bollards | Cleaned without scratching or clouding the surface |
| Fences, gates and paths | Alleys, cycle paths, car parks and yards | Pressure washing or a remover, depending on the surface |
How a graffiti removal job works
- Photos first: send us photos of the graffiti and the wall around it, and we can often quote straight away. Large areas and listed buildings get a free site survey.
- Test patch: we try the method on a small area, so you can see the result before we start.
- Removal: the right product and method for the surface, from a MEWP if the graffiti is out of reach. Our operatives hold IPAF cards.
- Before and after photos: for your records, your insurer or your landlord.
Stopping it coming back
Historic England also advises putting measures in place after removal, so the graffiti doesn’t keep coming back. Taking it off quickly is the best deterrent, as tags that stay up tend to attract more. For walls that are hit again and again, we can set up regular visits as well as one-off cleans, and advise on motion-activated lighting for dark corners and anti-graffiti coatings that stop paint sticking.
For whole-building cleaning, see facade cleaning in Cambridge, or read more about our graffiti removal service.
Accredited and insured
Locus is SafeContractor-accredited, Constructionline Silver and a BICSc corporate member, and our operatives hold IPAF and CSCS cards. We’re registered with the Environment Agency as a waste carrier (CBDU320327).