POLICE say the Adver's graffiti hotline is helping to trace vandals. But they still need more information to catch those behind these tags.

Officers say it is possible two people are painting the Ekon tag and they want to hear from anyone who knows who is doing it with a line through the middle.

Fasa and Snipe are two other scrawls which are blighting the town.

Sgt Andrew Carr said: "We are still looking for information because there's lots and lots of tags and these are some of the more prolific.

"We have had a lot of information from the Adver's hotline and we are actively researching and using the information to form the basis of future actions but these tags are not ones that we have been able to identify from that."

On Friday police arrested a 20-year-old man from Laughton Way, Abbey Meads, who was suspected of painting his tag all over town.

Officers also raided a second property where they found boxes full of empty spray cans in the garage and are planning to interview the man from that house, in Cornflower Road, Haydon Wick, today.

Sgt Carr said: "We are determined to stamp out the graffiti and get those responsible.

"If you're tagging we will be knocking on your door and if you are a parent you should be looking at why your children have got spray paint in the garage and asking what are they using it for.

"The end result is a court appearance, fine and a criminal record."

As well as the tags pictured here, police are also keen to find out who is spraying Moke, ON5, ONS, Fnok, Fnokaa and Dubba.

"These are all over town and they are prolific around north Swindon," Sgt Carr said.

Police have been inundated with complaints about graffiti.

Sgt Carr said: "It's a relatively low-level crime but is has a significant impact on people's quality of life.

"If everywhere you turn and look a public or even private property is being defaced it has a negative impact on the environment people live in and increases the fear of crime and that's obviously something we want to reduce and remove."

Debate rages about merits of street art

THE Adver's website has seen a fierce debate about whether graffiti is art or vandalism.

Someone calling themselves Mystery Cleaner said that while they looked down on "pathetic little tags" there was much to commend some graffiti.

"If you looked at actual artists like the such who are part of HSD ONS CIB you would realise it takes years and years of hard work and dedication and a good imagination to come up with these forms of calligraphy. Please people get the stereotype out of your heads. Yes most of the graffiti in Swindon is just little tagger wannabes. All I'm saying is don't be so quick to judge and jump on a bandwagon.

"Take away graffiti and you'll take away a very big part of this whole world's culture and history. Notice how the media only bring things like this to light when an election is coming up to make you forget about all the other crap the Government has done wrong and make it look like they care when all they really care about is controlling our lives."

But anon hit back and said: "Now, it may be that there's some graffiti with artistic merit (I know I've seen some) - but the **** round town ain't - so stop splitting pointless hairs. We're all talking about badly executed tags or rubbish murals like Fnoc's finest' works.

"Tell us where the good stuff is and maybe we'll appreciate it too. In the meantime, don't start trying to excuse the pointless criminal damage that we see every day."

Mash posted: "I don't know anyone that could do anything like what's on my bedroom wall - no, it's not a name it's a sunset and it's beautiful art.

"People pay hundreds to get this stuff done - you only see the ****** tags because that's what you expect to see. You're a bunch of wasters who chat like you know graffiti but you don't know jack."

But Graffiti Hater replied: "The fact is that someone's view of what is artistic is being inflicted on others, whether or not they think the same. They are given no choice in the matter. By being anonymous the "artist" offers no accountability.

"All the taggers and graffiti artists presumably live in houses - so they can't say they don't have any walls to practice on - or don't they like *****ing on their own front door?

"In case you haven't noticed it's ordinary people here who are sick and tired of making the area look even more unsightly than it already is!"

  • The majority of readers believe graffiti is vandalism not art. In an Adver poll we asked people how they regarded graffiti. Sixty-nine per cent said it was vandalism, with 31 per cent believing it to more of a form of art.