The betting firm sponsoring Wednesday’s Chester Cup at the racecourse (May 7) has apologised after being reported to the police for an alleged heritage crime after putting its branding on the pavement next to the ancient City Walls.
StanJames.com has applied ‘clean graffiti’ in several places on the footpath opposite the Queen’s School, close to the Roodee, upsetting some members of the public and Cheshire West and Chester Council.
The process involves blasting high pressure water on to a stencil placed on the pavement leaving the company logo behind, which then fades.
But the disgruntled council tweeted: “This has been reported to Cheshire police as a heritage crime and a stonemason will repair as soon as possible.”
Resident Daniel Jeory tweeted: “Since when were Chester’s Roman Walls a billboard?” Another member of the public, ‘Mike’, added: “Excellent. Firm should be ashamed of themselves.”
Garry McGibbon of StanJames.com told The Chronicle: “The last thing we want do is upset people or cause any damage in this beautiful old city!”
He explained: “The process of putting the branding on the pavement is known as ‘clean graffiti’. A metal stencil is placed on the ground and the pavement is ‘cleaned’ with a pressure wash, removing dirt from within the stencil. Once the stencil is removed, it leaves the ‘image’ that you see on the pavement.
“There will be no lasting damage/marking to the stone at all. In fact, the pavement is likely to be dirty again within a couple of weeks so the branding completely disappears.
“We can assure the people of Chester that no lasting damage has been done to any part of the city walls, flagstones or otherwise, as a result of our sponsorship.
“We have done this clean graffiti to support our sponsorship of the prestigious Chester Cup, and we have indeed used clean graffiti in Chester for the past two years while supporting this horse race.
“Because we have never had any negative response in the past we have utilised clean graffiti again this year on the pavements near the racecourse.
“We apologise if certain quarters feel that better judgment could have been used in terms of location, but would again stress that there is no damage to any part of the city, and there is no repair work necessary.”
