Wedding prank backfires at tax payer expense

Wedding guests have been blamed for high jinks that have left a village’s roads covered in graffiti, costing the tax payer hundreds of pounds.

 

Pranksters, said to be members of a local Young Farmers Club, scrawled comedic messages on a bride-to-be’s route to Guilsfield church this summer with a big ‘R U SURE?’ splashed across the road outside its gates, but villagers have not seen the funny side.

 

The Reverend Roger Bird said he was “not impressed at all” and the matter was placed in the hands of Powys County Council, who are responsible for the highways, by the local community council.

 

“We are not amused,” said Glynne Turner, Chairman of Guilsfield Community Council. “The wedding guests had told the church that the messages were written in a substance that would be washed away in the rain but it has been impossible to remove.

 

“The church is one of the most beautiful buildings in Mid Wales but had graffiti splashed across the road at its front gates which was not a very nice welcome at all. And what if there was a funeral?”

 

The messages started at the junction close to the village’s Spar which is 300m from the church. That message, written in yellow, stated ‘left or right’ indicating that the bride has two choices if she wants to go through with it or not.

 

The next was sprawled across the junction to the church stating ‘POINT OF NO RETURN’ before the final red message at the foot of the church gates. On the way out, the happy couple was met with ‘GOOD LUCK’, written in yellow.

 

Powys County Council sent a team to remove the graffiti but after two attempts using a power washer and special cleaning agents, they were forced to cover it with bitumen, leaving unsightly black strips on the roads.

 

“Unfortunately this has happened a few times now in the area and it is costing a lot of time and money each time it has to be treated,” said a spokesperson. “We don’t want to spoil people’s fun but we would like to advise people to think again before trying this sort of antic because, at the end of the day, it is costing the tax payer to fix.”

 

The spokesperson confirmed that the graffiti was still on the road and could re-appear when the bitumen wears off.

 

“We could not burn it off because of toxic fumes so the only permanent fix is to resurface the road which is obviously a very costly exercise. It will have to wait until such a time when the road as a whole needs doing,” the spokesperson confirmed.