Graffiti artist Rick Shipley wants Bradford Council to free up more walls across the city for people to express themselves legally.

Mr Shipley, 30, of Shipley, has been teaching graffiti for the past seven years since setting up his business Cageone, visiting schools, youth clubs and prisons across the country.

His call for more walls goes out as the council prepares to clamp down on the worst illegal offenders with a new policy of zero tolerance.

Mr Shipley and a group of other graffiti artists from Bradford successfully lobbied a year ago for somewhere to paint legally and were given permission to work their art on the subways at Odsal Top.

He has been practising graffiti since he was 18, only paints at permitted places and believes the more legal walls Bradford introduces, the less trouble the Council will have with illegal graffiti artists who cost the city around £100,000 a year.

He said: "I'd encourage anyone doing graffiti to come and use the legal walls instead of tagging elsewhere but we do need more space.

"People should be getting on to their local councillors pushing for more legal walls in their area.

"If you go abroad to big cities in Europe you see graffiti everywhere, it brightens up the place - especially on hoardings around building sites.

"Graffiti should not have to be hidden away underground in subways, it should be in parks and places for people to see.

"The majority of graffiti artists would much rather have somewhere to go to paint where they can spend time and do a good job rather than have to do a rush job in the middle of the night."

Mr Shipley is now working on a canvas exhibition and hopes it will be shown in Bradford some time in the future.

Last week a zero tolerance clampdown on graffiti was launched. The Council and police have teamed up to offer £500 rewards to anyone who helps bring the most prolific offenders to book.

They plan to issue posters carrying the tags of the worst offenders, asking people to call in if they recognise the work.

Damian Fisher, the Council's principal waste management officer for street cleansing, believes graffiti increases the fear of crime and brings neighbourhoods down and can lead to clashes over territory. "We want to show zero tolerance towards graffiti," he said.