Cleaning up antisocial graffiti and repairing the damage it causes in the areas around our canals and rivers costs us about £1 million per year. It's particularly difficult in cities, where bridges, buildings and boundary walls are often targeted. Together with communities, we've come up with a creative solution to help put colour and life back into vandalised spaces.
We're creating a national street art trail on our urban canals. We hope it will encourage people to use some of these less-visited stretches and enjoy the work of local artists. The art not only replaces the antisocial graffiti but also represents the different people who make up the local community and their stories.
Cities including Sheffield, Oxford, London, Leicester, Coventry and Birmingham already have some street art along their canals, but watch this creative space as new art in new locations will be added soon.