A BUSINESSWOMAN was so annoyed by graffiti in her town that she decided to donate �8,500 to tackle the problem.

Jean Chapman made the generous gift to Sudbury Town Council for the purchase of a graffiti-cleaning unit which has already been put to good use.

The mother-of-four, who runs a company which supplies engineers for the London Underground, decided she wanted to help after spotting the ‘tags’ on her drive to work and then reading about the problem in a local paper.

She said: “I moved from Essex. We had a big problem in Essex with graffiti. I moved here. I have got my business here and chose to have my business here.

“At the end of the day, I don’t want to go back to having graffiti everywhere. It is a town with history. We have got a good sense of community here, with young and old.

“And people come to view the old buildings and also late at night it’s not very nice, is it?”

The 47-year-old, of Clayhall Lane, Acton, said she was now in a position to be able to make such a donation, but at one time she was a single parent with debt.

She started her business London Rail Recruitment, based at the Stour Valley Business Centre, from scratch five years ago.

She said as well as hoping the cleaning machine would get rid of all the graffiti in the town, it would also save the town council money as it would not need to pay contractors.

She added how the machine could also be hired out which would generate some income, which in turn could be ploughed back into the community.

“You have got to look at the bigger picture,” she said. “I feel as if I haven’t just tried to help tackle a problem, but to keep on top of it.”

Deputy town clerk Jacqui Howells said it was very generous of Mrs Chapman to make the donation.