GRAFFITI sprayers have targeted a Bridgwater underpass, covering it with multicoloured tags - just weeks after it was completely repainted by the council.

Disheartened members of Sedgemoor District Council are now mulling over whether to begin the clean-up job yet again after spending hundreds of pounds on painting the tunnel walls.

Authority workers had covered the underpass at Blake Gardens in a shade of cream in an effort to smarten up the appearance of the town.

But paint-happy vandals had a different idea, spraying their designs all over the newly-cleared tunnel walls.

Leader of Sedgemoor District Council Cllr Duncan McGinty slammed whoever was behind the graffiti.

"This an example of the appalling standard of behaviour displays by a minority group within Bridgwater and it is simply not acceptable," he told the Mercury.

"Sedgemoor District Council, working with volunteer bodies, has invested heavily in its successful Clean Sweep programme, designed to clean up the district and to reach parts of Sedgemoor that have been long forgotten.

"This type of behaviour is both demoralising for us all and damaging to the environment.

"The people responsible for this vandalism should be named, shamed and held accountable for their actions."

Painting the underpass costs the council around £300 each time and spokesman Claire Faun said she was not even sure it was the responsibility of the body to do it.

"I am pretty sure that because it is a footpath it's actually the county council's responsibility," she said, before adding it was hoped there was a way forward for Bridgwater.

County council spokesman Jan Hookings confirmed it was actually the district authority that would be dealing with the underpass.

And Ms Faun added plans were afoot to solve the vandalism once and for all.

"There is a possibility of finding a long-term solution for the problem," she said.

"It could include a designated graffiti space."

THE MERCURY SAYS: THESE latest actions from yobs in Bridgwater is sadly just another chapter in a depressing book of how some people still treat our proud town.

The council can only be applauded for how it took the initiative a few weeks ago and painted over the graffiti in an effort to smarten up the area.

But how many more times are they expected to do it again when there are some mindless vandals who just see a clean wall as a blank canvas for their untidy scrawl?

The cost of painting the underpass is estimated at around £300, so when these "artists" take out their spray cans they are not just expressing themselves - they are spraying away Mercury readers' hard-earned tax money.

Tags sprayed on the walls are hardly vintage Banksy either, more a collection of spidery words, creating mess, but signifying nothing.

An idea for a designated graffiti area has been touted as a possibility and if this does go ahead it can only be hoped that these yobs stick to it.

But with respect from some minority elements of the community clearly lacking, will it have a chance to be a success before someone vandalises it?

* Remember, you can have your say on this latest vandalism attack in the Mercury's online discussion forum