Scourge of graffiti hits more areas of region

Jan 16 2008 by Peter Collins, South Wales Echo

THE scourge of graffiti in South Wales has claimed more victims across the region.

Police and council officers in the Vale of Glamorgan are hunting vandals who defaced a building on Ty Newydd Hill, Barry.

The tags “fish and “4LIFE” were daubed over the white side wall of the home in red letters from a spray-can.

Council officers in Caerphilly have also launched a clean-up initiative to tackle a string of graffiti attacks on bus stops, walls and play areas.

Yobs carrying out unpaid work for probation will be used to clean the mess. In Cardiff, where the city centre has recently fallen victim to several graffiti attacks, offenders will also be used to clear up graffiti in some areas as part of Operation Maximum Impact, the city’s high-profile New Year crime clampdown.

Police in Barry appealed for information about the vandals who scrawled their tags on the building on Ty Newydd Hill.

Miles Punter, from the Vale council, said the graffiti had been done over the Christmas period.

He said: “Graffiti offenders are often easy to identify by their tag, as they use their name or nickname.

“A database of known tags now exists in the Vale and is proving to be a real help in deterring and catching prolific offenders.”

Police Constable Dick Collins added: “It costs the local authority a great deal of money a year to clean up – money which could be better spent on other valuable services.”

Senior enforcement officer Denny White said teams from the youth offending service would be brought in to clear up the tags.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. All information will be treated in the strictest confidence.

echo.newsdesk@mediawales.co.uk