VANDALS have put a hotel’s reputation on the line after coating its garage shutters in graffiti during the early hours.

The Old Ship Hotel in King’s Road, Brighton, fell foul to the damage, prompting general manager Paul Wright to condemn the criminals.

He said it is going to cost him at least £1,000 to clean and re-paint the shutters, and noted the effects it has on the hotel could be detrimental.

Mr Wright said: “It just makes us look really shabby and uncaring about our hotel.

“The vandals don’t give a damn about the impact they are making on the businesses they do this to or what they are doing to the city.”

Mr Wright now faces the task of cleaning up the shutters himself, and the damage will remain until the weather perks up as the paint will have time to dry.

He is also doing it himself to cut back on costs, as an external painter would cost well over the £1,000 he is already faced with paying out to clean them.

Mr Wright said: “It is going to take me at least a week to clean the graffiti up. The weather has to be good as it has been raining recently. That and we also have to take into account that people will be coming in and out of the garage during the day. It’s not like it even looks good.”

The damage was caused at around 4.30am last Wednesday and was spotted by night staff working at the hotel, and they reported it to HR manager Harriet Smith the following morning.

When Ms Smith reported the crime to police, they claimed the CCTV footage “would not be visible enough” because of the time it happened, she said.

This is not the first time the Old Ship has been struck by vandals.

The shutters were coated back in July, and again earlier in the year.

Mr Wright said: “This is the worst it has been compared to the other times. The problem in the city is getting out of hand.”

The damage to the Old Ship is just one of many incidents of graffiti vandalism as a plague has swept across Brighton and Hove.

Last week, The Argus reported how a symbol has been sprayed around various landmarks in Brighton, including the Barclays Bank in North Street and Boots and Co-op in London Road.

A spokesman for Sussex Police said: “Garage doors at a hotel in King’s Road, Brighton, were targeted by a graffiti vandal in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

“The damage was reported to police at 11.17am on Friday and has been submitted to the resolution centre for investigation.”

Shortly after The Argus contacted police, they asked Mr Wright for the CCTV footage.