A NORTHUMBERLAND County Council skip lorry driver is being 're-educated' after delivering a bottle bank covered in offensive graffiti to a popular tourist site in Bellingham.

Outraged members of the public protested about the spray painted obscenities on the recycling skip which was sited right outside the Heritage Centre and the popular Tea on the Train tea rooms in the Station Yard.

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The tea room service known as Tea on the Train is run by the Heritage Centre, and serves light lunches and snacks inside two Mark 1 railway coaches.

A local parish councillor passed the complaints on to Bellingham county councillor John Riddle, who took immediate action to have the skip cleaned up the next day.

In a letter to the parish councillor, the county's head of local services Paul Jones said: "Please accept our apologies, as the skip should not have been delivered in this condition to start with and we are 're-educating' the driver involved in its delivery as to the standards we expect to be adhered to at all times.

"The graffiti has now been removed."

The county council and Coun. Riddle were thanked for their swift response at the November meeting of the parish council.