‘It’s totally unacceptable. There is no place for this in our community’
11:00, 30 Sep 2025Updated 16:54, 30 Sep 2025
Islamophobic graffiti sprayed onto a bus stop in West Street, Bedminster, pictured on Monday, September 29(Image: Bristol Post)
Community leaders and councillors have expressed shock and outrage after offensive Islamophobic graffiti was sprayed on a bus stop in South Bristol. The words ‘F*** you Allah’ was sprayed on the bus stop on West Street in Bedminster, in front of the job centre at some point before Monday evening.
Police have been alerted, and the graffiti has been reported to Bristol City Council, which is responsible for maintaining bus stops, but a group of local residents did try to clean off the graffiti themselves on Monday evening.
A spokesperson for Way Out West, the community group made up of local residents and business owners, expressed shock at the vandalism, and said messages of this nature should not be tolerated. “It’s shocking and totally unacceptable. We’re a multi-cultural community in West Street, and there is no place for this in our community at all,” she said.
“It’s just pure Islamophobia and racism. I’m worried about the Somali mums who walk their children to school every morning past this, and the business owners who are serving the community along this road,” she added.
“It’s uncomfortable and horrible, and it needs dealing with as soon as possible. People need to know this is simply not acceptable,” she said.
The graffiti comes around a week after someone sprayed swastikas on traffic bollards in Lockleaze, and there has been a rise of reports of racist attacks on people, rather than street furniture, in Bristol too in the past couple of months. At the start of September in Henbury a nine-year-old girl was shot three times by a teenager with a pellet gun who shouted racist abuse at her, and yesterday Avon & Somerset police revealed two men had been badly beaten by four men using a metal pole in a racist attack in Lawrence Hill a week earlier.
READ MORE: Investigation launched as swastikas painted near primary schoolREAD MORE: All you need to know about the law around flags on lampposts in Bristol
West Street has been one of the streets in South Bristol where the raising of Union and St George flags on lampposts has caused controversy. Flags put up by a group who said publicly they were motivated by an anti-immigration message have been taken down by local residents and then put back up again over the course of September, while Way Out West and other local people have put up posters and signs that celebrate the diverse community in this part of Bedminster.
Local councillor Ellie Freeman (Green, Bedminster) said she was shocked by the latest graffiti. “I’m obviously absolutely disgusted that this has happened,” she said. “This is a diverse and friendly neighbourhood and racism and other forms of hate speech will not be tolerated.
“It is also frustrating and sad so much anger is being directed at the wrong group of people. This contributes to feelings of worry and threat which is not how we want our community to feel,” she added.
Cllr Emily Clarke (Lab, Bedminster) said the recent increase in hate crime incidents across Bristol is ‘appalling’. “I’m really saddened to see Islamophobic graffiti in our community,” she said. “Bedminster is a welcoming community, where people look out for their neighbours regardless of their religion or race.
“The recent increase in hate crime incidents across Bristol is appalling. I understand that many people will be feeling frightened about what is going on and the future. If you have been affected, I encourage you to contact the police and Stand Against Racism and Inequality (SARI) for specialist support,” she added.
UPDATE – Tuesday morning 1pm – the graffiti has now been completely removed.