Open air pool targeted by vandals

VANDALS have daubed white paint over a professionally painted graffiti mural at Portishead Open Air Pool.

Pool staff discovered the damage, which has seen white gloss thrown over the mural on the rear wall of the lido, on Sunday morning.

The damage – which is believed to have taken place over the weekend – has been done to three panels of graffiti art created as part of the TV makeover of the lido by American TV star Ty Pennington and volunteers last summer.

Some of the panels have been painted with a brush by the vandals while others have had paint thrown over them.

The panels were professionally painted by a graffiti artist with an undersea theme.

Makeover bosses hoped that by putting colourful artwork on the rear wall of the building it would prevent vandal attacks.

In the past, the wall has been targeted by yobs who have sprayed graffiti and obscene messages on it.

Trustees at the pool are now looking at how to remove the paint without damaging the murals below.

Pool trustee Andy Thatcher said: "It is very disappointing that this has happened – it is just a case of mindless vandalism.

"The whole idea of having a professionally painted graffiti mural on this wall was to prevent vandal attacks such as these.

"We hoped that if there was a piece of high quality artwork in place, people would be respectful enough not to damage it.

"We are now looking at how we can remove the paint without damaging the artwork below and are hoping to be able to track down the original artist for some advice.

"We are also considering how we can protect the building from future attacks and are looking at the possibility of using some type of anti-graffiti solution."

The pool is run by Portishead Open Air Pool Community Trust, which took over its management from North Somerset Council last year following the successful Save the Open Air Pool campaign.

In its first season under the trust, the pool welcomed 32,000 visitors through its doors, compared to just 8,800 the previous year when it was under the control of the local authority.

This year, the pool has already seen 10,000 people through its turnstiles and, if the good weather continues, trustees are hoping to increase on last year's visitor numbers.

The Lake Grounds and pool area are regularly patrolled by local police.

Trustees are appealing to anyone who saw anything suspicious over the weekend or anyone who knows who is responsible for the attack to contact police on 0845 4567000.