OWNERS of a car wash in Oxford have sacked a contractor after an employee daubed homophobic graffiti on the roof of a car.

Robert Greenberg, 21, was disgusted to find the word ‘GAY’ with an arrow pointing to his passenger seat scrawled on his partner’s car roof by the car wash attendant at the Arc Car Wash in Cowley.

Mr Greenberg said the attendant had used a ‘washable’ marker to write £5 on the roof to let a colleague know which wash they had paid for, before writing the graffiti.

At first, the Oxford Brookes University psychology student laughed it off, but he was offended when it dawned on him the joke was never meant to be shared with him or his boyfriend.

He complained to managers and asked for compensation. The company offered him 12 free car washes.

Mr Greenberg, of Harcourt Terrace, Headington, was a passenger in his boyfriend Jack Taylor’s blue Renault Clio, with their friend Grace Elliot.

He said he was “disgusted” and “offended” by the graffiti, which he believes was targeted at him because he was wearing quite a low-cut shirt.

He said: “We went to Tesco afterwards. It was when we came out of the supermarket we saw the word on the roof.

“I’m sure this particular member of staff believed this to be washable and for neither myself nor my partner to read it. Grace and Jack told me to laugh it off because it was meant to be a joke, but I thought it was a bit more serious than a joke.

“When I got home I spoke to my other housemates about it and I realised he never intended me to see it, it was a joke between them, and I found that quite offensive.”

Mr Greenberg said the graffiti was still visible on the car roof a week later.

He added: “I didn’t do anything to deserve that treatment.

“That attitude is completely outdated.

“It’s one thing to have your own opinion and another to vandalise someone’s car.”

He described the compensation offered as “paltry”, adding: “They tried to brush me off with some free car wash vouchers.

“It’s hard to put a value on feelings.”

Site owners Anduff Car Wash Limited said the operator at the car wash was a self-employed contractor responsible for his own staff and not an employee of the company.

It said the operator’s contract had been terminated and that it did not condone the behaviour.

In a statement, Anduff Car Wash Limited said: “We were extremely concerned to hear about this complaint and we have already apologised to Mr Greenberg and his partner for any upset.

“We wish to make clear that we do not condone any offensive behaviour.

“The operator at the Oxford Retail Park, in common with all our operators, was a self-employed commission agent, entirely responsible for his own staff and not an employee of this company.

“The operator’s contract has terminated in accordance with its terms.”

Ben Summerskill, chief executive of the lesbian, gay and bisexual charity Stonewall, said: “It’s regrettable that this sort of things is happening in modern Britain and there is no doubt that businesses like this will lose custom as a consequence.”