“Inclusion and diversity is a key priority for the council. This sort of behaviour has no place in Blackpool and will not be tolerated. Rest assured we are accessing the CCTV in the area and we have reported it to the police.

“The ‘Be Who You Want To Be’ project is a community led project initiated by the community in and around the Claremont area and is supported by Blackpool Council.

“The rainbow crossings are a small part of this project and were laid down after many discussions and engagement with the community. Those discussions told us that people want the area to look and feel better, brighter and want to start to build a sense of identity. This is now a key theme within the action plan.

“This senseless and mindless act will not deter us and we will continue with delivering the action plan and support all those that want to be involved with it - I hope that is as many people in Blackpool as possible.

“The crossings will be cleaned and we will continue to move forward to support the residents with their plans.”