Man left "angry and upset" by the continued defacing of a sacred war memorial in the Northern Quarter

A disgruntled man from Bury has been left feeling "angry and upset" by the continued defacing of a sacred war memorial in the Northern Quarter.

Council bosses vowed to take action after graffiti was scrawled on the sacred war memorial in January. The bronze plaques in the Northern Quarter in Manchester city centre commemorate men who gave their lives for the country in the First and Second World Wars. The graffiti was daubed onto a poppy mural below.

Andrew Gallimore, 40, from Bury, says he routinely walks past the mural daily and says this month more unsightly graffiti has been piled on. The plaques remember the men of J & N Philips and Co Ltd who fought and died in both world wars. Founded in Staffordshire in 1747, the textile manufacturer's Manchester building stood on the site where the car park stands today.

Andrew said: "I first saw small bits of graffiti on the war mural on Tib Street in January. This month someone has completely gone over it in purple and added more graffiti. I walk past the same place every day on the same route as a routine to clear my head.

"I thought how can someone do that - there used to be signs saying please don't tag this mural but all over the NQ there is graffiti and it's all over the mural. I think whoever is doing it definitely knows what they are defacing as it hasn't been touched for a few years. It's obvious it's poppies they are defacing - it's pretty bad.

I contacted the artist Mural life and Qubek Manchester and they said they would try to sort it out as soon as possible. I feel angry and upset, I have contacted the police, the council and Andy Burnham- but I feel like what is the point in complaining.

Manchester city centre's main cenotaph war memorial stands in front of