Crackdown to wipe out surge of graffiti in Bridport (From Bridport and Lyme Regis News)

Crackdown to wipe out surge of graffiti in Bridport

12:30pm Wednesday 16th January 2013 in Bridport By Rene Gerryts

A NEW blitz is to be launched on graffiti artists plaguing Bridport town centre.

Householders and the council are counting the cost of a surge of art attacks in recent weeks.

Now the authority and police are set to forge a plan to wipe out the problem.

Bridport town councillor Julian May knows personally how hard the work is to remove after having his house daubed.

He said: “I was out the other day trying to scrub some off my house. It is hard to get off. I don’t know what it is.

“It is obviously hardcore paint. There one particular graffiti ‘tag’ that seems to be everywhere that seems to be plastered up and down Bridport.”

He added: “There are some places in Bridport that does just look rough.

“It gives the wrong impression. It is not great, if you drive into Bridport and the first thing you see if you have never been here before is a load of graffiti plastered all over the place.

“I know they are trying their best to get rid of it but the bottom line is it doesn’t look great.”

Walls in the town centre have been sprayed as well as post boxes, electricity and water boxes and doorways – particularly in the town centre.

Bridport Town Council surveyor Daryl Chambers is meeting with police to see how best to respond.

Mr Chambers said: “We are going to come up with some sort of co-ordinated response to it. Someone must know who it is because it is a tag. It is difficult to get off.

“We have been on to West Dorset District Council who have a specialist unit to clean it.”

Police say the crime is recorded as criminal damage and even new houses at the bottom of Folly Mill Lane have been targeted – although builders were able to use their specialist cleaning fluid to remove it.

PCSO Mark Brown has been researching the graffiti and one of the tags being used is a crown and the word ‘size’ on it.

He said: “It stands for Kingsize – a tag for people who think they are the best graffiti artist in the area.

“Graffiti runs along the same lines as chess, so you have rooks, pawns and kings.

“One of the other tags being used is png – there is a very popular and well known artist in Birmingham who uses it and somebody down here is paying tribute to him.”

Bridport police inspector Mike Darby added: “Graffiti is popular among some young men and it is quite often regarded by them as harmless and fun.

“However, for people who own the property and items which have been defaced it cost them hundreds of pounds to clean up and is quite disturbing to the victims of it.

“Graffiti is a criminal offence as criminal damage and when we find out who is doing it we will prosecute them for all the damage that has been caused.”

Targeted sites

The location of some of graffiti includes East Street, East Street car park, Chancery Lane, Downes Street, West Street, Folly Mill Lane, Rax Lane, Asker Meadows, Melville Square, Asker Gardens, Mountfield, the old magistrates’ court, St Andrew’s Road and Sea Road North.