A crackdown on fly-posting along a seafront walkway is set to be launched – after dozens of newly-painted lampposts were “ruined”.

Kent County Council (KCC) forked out £20,000 last spring to paint the street lights between Lane End and William Street, Herne Bay, for the first time in about two decades.

But angry Conservative Andrew Cook says up to 20 have since been damaged by notices being pasted over them – with many of the stickers trumpeting anti-vaccine conspiracy theories.

“It’s absolutely disgraceful. The anti-vaxx crowd have put stickers on many of them,” said the senior town centre councillor.

“We shouldn’t be allowing that at all – they’re advertising their programme on council property. There’s a lot of people doing harm to this town.

“We’ve been trying to get them off, but they’ve pulled the paint off them. It’s a real problem.

“We’ve put in all that work, all that money, and idiots have come along, stuck posters over them and ruined our lampposts.”

One of the conspiracist posters, which was located close to the Bandstand, read “The National Clottery” as it depicts the crossed-finger lottery logo holding a jab.

Meanwhile, another was produced by anti-lockdown group White Rose, which disseminates disinformation about Covid on stickers.

There were other, more innocuous, notices pasted to the lampposts, but Cllr Cook, who is the authority’s environmental services chief, says there will be a clampdown on all fly-posting.

The Tory stresses this could include enforcement officers dishing out fines to anyone caught in the act.

“They hadn’t been painted for 20 years, the bollards and lampposts – and they’re now in the process of being wrecked,” the politician added.

“We’ve had a few having posters stuck to them in the High Street as well.

"I’m not sure how anyone’s going to get them off.”