Rome is well known for its graffiti, with some neighbourhoods such as Trastevere affected more than others.

A non-profit association is currently at work painting over the graffiti-covered walls on streets around the Trastevere quarter of Rome, with the support of local traders and the city.

Members of the Comitato emergenza Trastevere have spent the last week armed with rollers and brushes, erasing the "tags" that litter the bustling neighbourhood.

The urban regeneration project called Muri Puliti (Clean Walls) aims to cleans up some of the streets in Trastevere most affected by graffiti, reports news outlet RomaToday.

“We had been looking for a solution for two years to restore decorum to the district and finally, a few months ago, we found the answer”, said Simonetta Marcellini, spokesperson for the Comitato emergenza Trastevere.

“We were looking for a company that could receive and transparently document the donations received to clean the walls of graffiti" - Marcellini told RomaToday - "The Raggio di luce cooperative responded to this need and so, through [Rome's] environment councillor Stefano Marin, we asked the municipality to authorise it to start a redevelopment project".

The first street to be cleaned up last week was Via S. Francesco a Ripa, before the committee moved onto Via Luciano Manara and Via Luigi Santini in recent days.

Given the prevalence of graffiti in the area, the committee is likely to face an uphill battle in keeping the streets clean of "tags".

However Marcellini told RomaToday that, as part of the project, "if a cleaned wall is defaced, it must be re-painted immediately to erase the graffiti”.

Time will tell if the committee will be successful in its endeavours but for now local residents and shopkeepers are enthusiastic about the results.

Photo: S Korayem / Shutterstock.com.