Norwich: Bowthorpe roundabout anti-migrant graffiti removed
Bowthorpe roundabout, which connects Dereham Road on the outskirts of the city, was the canvas for the words of protest, where "migrants out" was scrawled multiple times. Norwich City Council had the message scrubbed away on Friday evening after it was first spotted on Thursday, April 20. The graffiti was pointed in the direction of where asylum seekers are currently being housed, in the Best Western Brook Hotel[1], in Bowthorpe.
The Best Western Brook Hotel, in Bowthorpe is currently housing asylum seekers looking for refuge (Image: Newsquest) Gary Blundell, a Costessey town councillor, said: "In my opinion, it's to cause hate and tension to rise in the community, which isn't right in this day and age. "Lots of people really aren't happy with this - it's not acceptable.
"There's already so much hate in this world and there's no point hating the people who come here for a better life. The graffiti says migrants out and was first spotted on April 21 (Image: Newsquest) "Costessey is diverse and welcoming but this incident doesn't paint us in a great light, however, I know most people wouldn't approve of what's happened."
A police spokeswoman confirmed that officers had spotted the graffiti in the early hours of last Thursday and reported it. Gary Blundell, councillor for Costessey said It's unacceptable (Image: Newsquest) The issue has proved a hot topic in politics in recent months, with the BBC reporting last month that a government source had disclosed that 51,000 asylum seekers are being housed in 395 hotels in the UK, at a cost of GBP6m a day.
A Norfolk County Council spokesman added that the "tricky location" on the busy roundabout required traffic management to ensure workers were safe.
They added: "Traffic management was in place from 6pm, so we were able to respond promptly.
"Norwich City Council provided the specialist cleaning contractors and after checking the site at 8.30pm, the graffiti was removed."
References
- ^ Best Western Brook Hotel (www.eveningnews24.co.uk)
- ^ Norwich asylum seeker hotel's one-star food hygiene rating (www.eveningnews24.co.uk)
- ^ Bride left in tears as hotel cancels weddings after closing for refugees (www.eveningnews24.co.uk)