FEARS have been raised that shopkeepers will be unfairly targeted under a new council anti-social behaviour scheme.

A team of 14 Street Scene Enforcement officers, costing £540,000 a year, will begin patrolling the borough on Sunday, April 1, with new powers to issue £80 fines to those who fail to deal with anti-social problems such as graffiti on their properties.

The scheme, which is designed to bring together the council's current enforcement services, has been criticised for targeting the victims of anti-social behaviour rather than punishing the perpetrators.

Bryan Jobber, manager of Andrews builders' merchants in Woodbine Place, Wanstead, says it is unfair to fine shopkeepers for graffiti scrawled on their premises while those behind it are rarely punished.

He said: "Shopkeepers work very hard just to keep their businesses going and often don't have time to clean off graffiti straight away.

"Rather than penalising tax-paying businesses why not spend more money on catching and fining the people who are actually doing this."

These sentiments were backed by Roding ward Councillor, Felicity Banks, who says the council must to do more to catch and punish those who graffiti on public buildings rather than fining property owners.

She said: "I think it is totally unfair to fine businesses for not removing graffiti.

"The council must set the example by doing more to remove graffiti from its own properties before punishing others."

Ms Banks believes the new initiative will have little impact on the problem in Redbridge, and has called instead for the council to use its powers to stop youngsters buying spray paints.

"This new initiative is unlikely to make any difference to the problem in Redbridge because so many of these graffiti artists come from outside the borough."

Ms Banks says spray painters should be punished by being made to clean up the building they have graffitied and told to keep it clean for the next six months.

Cllr Mark Aaron, cabinet member for the environment, claims the scheme will help make the borough a cleaner and more pleasant place to live, and says enforcement officers will treat all offenders equally.

He said: "Where a building has graffiti on it which is left uncleaned, we will treat the owner the same whether they are a multinational company or a private individual."