The wipes are part of a 'war of attrition' now being carried out by Rotherham Council against vandals who deface the town's buildings.

Around 50,000 of the wipes have been distributed to be uses by the public to get rid of small areas of graffiti, such as those on bus shelters and phone boxes.

They are also being handed out to parish councils and Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinators in outlying areas.

The move comes after the council recently launched a Name That Tag advertising campaign - appealing to people to identify graffiti 'tags' which have appeared around the town.

Today the council admitted it was involved in a war with the vandals - and is determined to win. But is says Rotherham's graffiti problem is not as bad as other areas..

On average four per cent of Britain's streets suffer from some form of graffiti - but in Rotherham the figure is around two per cent.

Streetpride area manager Colin Knight said: "We are aware there are quite a few people out there applying graffiti, but they have to pay for the paint.

"The more people we have who are willing to help us to remove their tags the more they will to re-apply them and the greater the chance that we will win. I see it as a battle of attrition.

"Graffiti attracts graffiti, so the more people who can remove it quickly and easily the better."

The £15,000 campaign is being paid for by the government's Respect campaign and Neighbourhood Renewal funds.

Rotherham Council community development manager Andy Shaw said: "Campaigns like this have managed to keep Rotherham more free of graffiti than the national average, but we want to stay on the right track."

Since launching its crackdown, the council is responding to more than 1,000 reports of graffiti a year, and now aims to remove it within 24 hours, especially if it is abusive or racist.

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