GRAFFITI along a Wickford river cannot be cleaned because of health and safety fears, a borough councillor has claimed.

The River Crouch runs through the town in a culvert targeted by vandals for a "number of years".

The culvert, which provides a vital flood channel for the river, is part owned by the Environment Agency.

Health and safety has been cited as the reason why the graffiti has been left untouched.

Basildon Borough councillor Michael Mowe, who sits on the council's environment and regeneration scrutiny committee, said: "We've had graffiti there for a number of years. The council doesn't own the structure, it comes under the Environment Agency.

"I think they are reluctant to go down there on health and safety grounds.

"Our graffiti teams can't go down there and that's on health and safety grounds as well. We have got to be careful on the types of materials we use to clean up the graffiti because it could pollute the river."

Mr Mowe added: "We don't want one of our graffiti team slipping in the water. We would have to provide maybe a life jacket or a lifeline which the Environment Agency already has. I think it's really up to [the Environmental Agency] to see what they can do."

Roy Hart, a member of the River Crouch Conservation Trust, added his voice to the call for the graffiti to be cleaned.

He said: "It doesn't take much to clean the graffiti. It should be cleaned up but the Environment Agency don't want to know anything.

"If the graffiti was in the middle of the High Street they would have cleaned it up.

"It's rubbish to blame health and safety, that's just a lame excuse."

The Environment Agency has previously painted over obscene graffiti and has now confirmed it has made an offer to Basildon Council to buy materials needed to paint over the graffiti, if the council's environmental team carry out the work.

A spokesman for the agency said: "We have made an offer to assist the council if they wish the rest of the graffiti to be cleared and discussions are ongoing.

"The agency's main concern is to ensure the flow of water through the channel and we regularly clear the culvert of potential blockages so that water can flow safely away to prevent flooding."