The mystery of who painted over the Lido Sands mosaic in Cliftonville – and why- has been solved – with Thanet council confirming its workers carried out the paint job due to graffiti on the sign.
On September 3 it came to light that the pool mosaic had been covered with a layer of blue paint.
The sign is a symbol associated with the 1920s leisure complex which was closed to the public by the 1980s and has since suffered years of neglect.
It has been a favourite for film crews with scenes shot at the site for the iconic Killing Eve series, Top Boy and for a music video last year by The Pet Shop Boys.
It had previously been defaced a number of times including with pro-Palestine and anti-Israel sentiments and foul language.
The following day Thanet residents and business owners Jonathan Hussey and Elliott Simmons, with help from one of Jon’s staff, cleaned the mosaic, returning it to its former state.
Tree surgeon Elliott, of East Coast Arborists, lives across the road from the Lido sign and said he was keen to see it brought back to its former condition and contacted pal Jonathan of Hill Professional Cleaning for help.
Elliott, 31, said: “It’s an iconic part of the area and things like this are a part of history although sadly the Lido has been left to get run down.
“There is so much there that needs to be worked on and it is essential to preserve these things.”
Jon and Elliot spent all morning cleaning up the sign – apart from a break when there was a downpour of rain- and managed to remove the layer of blue paint and the pro-Palestine graffiti that was beneath it.
Now Thanet council has admitted its staff had painted the sign “with the best of intentions” but now “acknowledges the depth of affection for the tiled area and is committed to minimal intervention should future offensive graffiti appear.”
A council spokesperson, who said the action was prompted by the graffiti in general rather than specific slogans, said: “Thanet District Council has a graffiti removal team which in the months since April 2025 has cleared 32 instances of graffiti in the Lido area. Where graffiti is offensive the council’s approach is to clear it within one working day.
“Where is it not possible to clean graffiti off, the cleansing team does sometimes paint over an area.
“The Clifton Baths below the Lido complex is grade II listed, however the adjacent former Lido swimming pool is not listed.
“The Lido pool area cannot be safely accessed with the council’s graffiti removal machinery. The decision to cover the tiles with blue paint was undertaken with the best of intentions; however, we acknowledge the depth of affection for the tiled area and are committed to minimal intervention should future offensive graffiti appear.”
Two plots of the Lido complex are currently on the sale market with a pre-application proposal for a 100-room spa hotel, 90 new apartments, and a sculpture park.
The freehold is being offered for two plots, with an option also available for the Lido Bar and Pool Hall.
The 2.1 acre site is being marketed by Knight Frank with asking price on application.
Elliott previously suggested that Thanet council should buy the site “to preserve and look after it… for the community.”
The Thanet council spokesperson said: “The Lido site is a well-loved local landmark and while the council recognises this, there are currently no plans to acquire or purchase it.”
Is it a coincidence that this story has been published in the same week that Starmer has welcomed the Israeli president to number ten?
Probably more of a coincidence of timings around the original graffiti and the subsequent timeline and information from TDC. Can’t imagine a bit of paint in cliftonville is going to be incuded in No.10’s daily briefing.
Never underestimate how upset genocide supporters can get over a bit of paint! It’s now treated as a form of terrorism.
It’s hardly genocide, one lot religious adherents decided they wanted to kill a lot of similarly religiously guided people, the latter not surprisingly were’nt very happy and decided to give them a bit of a beating. Both sides would happily kill every single one of the other and care not one jot. Neither do they care what the rest of the world thinks.
But for some reason we have those that choose to support one lot of those with murderous intent over the other, for some reason believing that civilians and children on one side are more important than those on the other.
For lots of people it seems odd to have a favourite muderer to support. Odd world we live in. Probably best to let it all play out and see what emerges from the smoke and dust, all the wailing and gnashing of teeth here ain’t gonna change things, especially given that neither side would pay anyone not of the same religion any real respect.
Jaundiced Outlook”-“It’s hardly genocide”? What would you call the mass murder of Palestinians?
MMR – i’d call it the inevitable consequence of the inevitable response by Israel to October 7th.
The only way peace will ever return to that part of the world is when one side has eliminated the other, it seems Israel has every intention of pursuing that goal. The mindset of those involved on either side is a million miles from ours, as a result neither will pay attention to what the west thinks , as non believers our opinions are echoes in a vacuumed void to both sides.
This place should get heritage funding, it could be a real asset with some love and attention.
You are kidding. It would take far too much money. Margate and Cliftonville were great places to grow up and I enjoyed all these attractions in their heyday from the late 50s. But we have to accept those days are long gone and we have to move on. We cannot resurrect what is now so badly deteriorated that it doesn’t make financial sense in these tough economic times to try and restore them.
What’s the point you already have the Walpole bay tidal pool and the community of users that. Have builtt up round it. In the absence of the Lido pool being part of a grand scheme of the whole complex there is no future for it and the whole complex is just too big and distant from margate town to be viable. Ne much better to spend any avaialble money on theatre royal or wintergardens.
What an idiotic decision from TDC
I do not understand what this council employee’s are thinking of!
The sooner it is dissolved the better.
Wow. Thank god for the people of Thanet to keep the love for heritage alive. Well done those who repaired it.
Repaired? They cleaned paint off that had been a lazy attempt to cover up graffiti ( that seemingly upset someone) and in doing so removed said graffiti. At best it was a bit of cleaning.
Kathy – please can you correct the impression that this poor quality ‘mosaic’ is historic, or connected with the Lido in its heyday?
It appeared after the pool was infilled with chalk and sand in or after 1980.
It does reflect a period in the history of the site, albeit not a particularly glorious one – but is it worth preserving?
It doesn’t say it was part of the original site, I think one of the other articles says it was a late addition.
I think it is worth preserving a lot could be done with it too I wish I had the money to buy it because I would I can only dream.
Its an eye sore remove it
TDC: Thickos Do Cr-P.