TfL chief accuses campaigners of spraying Tube graffiti just so they can clear it up
Andy Lord, the TfL commissioner, also told the vigilante cleaners to stop taking matters into their own hands.
Videos of Londoners donning hi-vis vests and clearing up graffiti-covered Tube carriages have flooded social media in recent weeks.
Speaking at a London Assembly meeting on Thursday morning, Mr Lord said: 'Firstly, I would ask anybody not to take this matter into their own hands.
'We also have evidence of people creating graffiti and then removing it, so that is being investigated by the relevant authorities.'
The TfL commissioner conceded that there had been a 'spike' in graffiti particularly on the Bakerloo and Central lines, but insisted that 'significant action' had been taken to remove it in the past two to three months.
A TfL spokesman said: 'We know that some people are keen to help in cleaning up graffiti when it appears on our network and we recognise their spirit of volunteerism.
'However, we are extremely experienced in dealing with it and understand which processes and equipment are needed to effectively remove it.
'We therefore ask that it is left to our professional cleaners to remove. All instances of graffiti are investigated by TfL to help prevent them in the future.'
Mr Lord said his teams were removing about 3,000 tags a week from the Bakerloo and Central lines, neither of which have on-board CCTV cameras. He said cleaners were removing 'one act of graffiti every 11 minutes across our Tube fleet'.
Since TfL launched its 'accelerated cleaning programme' in April, more than 70 per cent of Bakerloo trains have been cleaned, with about 17,00 tags removed. TfL has removed more than 19,000 tags from the Central line fleet since mid-April.
A shortage of Bakerloo and Central line trains has exacerbated the problem, as it is harder to withdraw trains from service without impacting services.
TfL previously admitted an increase in graffiti on the Bakerloo line was partly attributable to its automatic washer being out of action for weeks because of a track defect at the depot.
The Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan has said he is wary of giving too much air time to the graffiti problem as he doesn't want to 'reward bad behaviour'.
He told a discussion at the TfL board on Wednesday: 'Every graffiti is photographed before it is taken down. What we don't want to do is amplify the work of these people. We don't want to reward bad behaviour by publicising it.'
Last year, a brand new Tube train was vandalised with graffiti before it had even made it into service. The Piccadilly line train was tagged while it was in transit from the manufacturer to the depot.
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