The public is being asked to help the police and the Isle of Wight Council tackle the issue of graffiti.

Both partners are keen to find the person responsible for a series of designs – or ‘tags’ as they are known – that have been sprayed at locations across the Island.

Each tag is like a signature and therefore identifies the culprit responsible. The police and council hope that stopping some of the more prolific offenders will help them make a big impact on improving the streetscene.

The council and police have already had success in tackling graffiti though initiatives such as Not in My Neighbourhood Week last autumn when over a 100 tags were reported and removed. During the week, the Council launched a new graffiti hotline to encourage residents to report it and a webpage so that people could upload photos of the tags.

Town Centre Managers, Community Support Officers, and staff in engineering services have been issued with graffiti removal kits and are keen to make further inroads by enlisting the support of the public to help identify several of the tags.

Diana Tuson, IW Council cabinet member for safer communities, said:

“Graffiti does of course cost council taxpayers in terms of the time and money that has to be spent cleaning away graffiti. It also diverts funds away from budgets that are there to maintain property during the year.”

“There is also the issue that not only is graffiti unsightly, it also attracts other forms of vandalism and anti-social behaviour because, if left,  its appearance gives the impression an area is not respected or looked after.”

Community Safety Inspector Mark Bell, said:

“We need to identify the people defacing our communities in order to prevent it happening.

“If people are more comfortable providing the information anonymously, please phone the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111

“Graffiti should be removed at the earliest opportunity as it gives such a bad impression of the area. I would encourage people to report it using the Council hotline 823515 or web link www.iwight.com/graffiti/ or the police on 0845 045 45 45.”