The Transport for London commissioner has been accused of ‘smearing’ campaigners by claiming they were spraying graffiti on the London Underground so they could clean it up on camera.
Earlier this summer, footage went viral of a group of volunteers so angered by graffiti-covered carriages on the Bakerloo Line taking matters into their hands to scrub them clean.
The team led by Joe Reeve, 28, attracted praise from Transport for London (TfL) train drivers and passengers who have thanked them for their efforts.
Mr Reeve, the founder of a policy group called Looking for Growth, has been critical of London Mayor Sadiq Khan – and his team wore hi-vis jackets with the words ‘Doing what Sadiq Khant’ on the back as they scrubbed away.
But £640,000-a-year TfL commissioner Andy Lord sparked a backlash after telling the London Assembly that he had ‘evidence of people creating graffiti and then removing it’, which he claimed was being probed.
However, a Freedom of Information request for the ‘evidence’ relating to Mr Lord’s statement on July 3 revealed TfL does ‘not hold any recorded information in relation to this’.
Keith Prince, the Tory transport spokesman at City Hall, has called for Mr Lord to clarify his claims or apologise to the campaigners.
Joe Reeve has led a group of volunteers cleaning graffiti off Bakerloo line trains in London
In videos that went viral earlier this summer, they wrote hi-vis jackets which said ‘Doing what Sadiq Khant’
Meanwhile former mayoral candidate Susan Hall, a Tory member of the London Assembly, told The Telegraph: ‘It is disgraceful. The TfL commissioner told us he had evidence of people spraying graffiti just so they can take it off again.
‘If we are told there is evidence. then there should be some. If there isn’t, then the TfL commissioner should apologise for this smear campaign against those trying to bring vandalism on the Tube to light.
‘I support campaigners wholeheartedly in their efforts to clean up graffiti on the Underground.’
Mr Lord previously said some 3,000 instances of graffiti were being removed a week from carriages on the Bakerloo and Central lines.
He said cleaners were removing ‘one act of graffiti every 11 minutes across our Tube fleet’.
Campaigner Mr Reeve previously shared why he has taken matters into his own hands, telling The Standard: ‘I take the Bakerloo line every morning and I see someone push past the barrier.
‘Then when I get down to the Tube, every single carriage is full of graffiti. It feels like no one is doing anything to make the city better. I’m pretty patriotic.
TfL commissioner Andy Lord (pictured) sparked a backlash after telling the London Assembly that he had ‘evidence of people creating graffiti and then removing it’, which he claimed was being probed
Mr Reeve said his team has attracted praise from train drivers on the London Underground. But they were then accused of spray-painting themselves
One of the team wipes graffiti off the top of a door on board a Bakerloo line train in London
‘I love London, and I think it should be the best city in the world. I had the option to move to the US for work, but I want to stay in the UK and see it get better.’
He added: ‘Sadiq has been mayor for a while and has said in videos he’s proud of what he’s achieved. I – and a lot of people – feel pretty frustrated with him.’
A TfL spokesman said: ‘Andy was making reference to information that he had been made aware of verbally and of work being undertaken within TfL as part of our wider graffiti reduction strategy, which aims to prevent and tackle graffiti vandalism.’
