THERE is an increase in the amount of graffiti in the Bournemouth and Poole area.

What we must all realise is that this is criminal damage, not art at all.

I am not objecting to art or graffiti art, which has to be displayed in the right place, with permission. What I hate are these morons who “tag” everything. What right do they have to deface our homes, walls, road signs, bus stop etc?

They should be caught and fined accordingly. There was dreadful graffiti on a building which is due for redevelopment, at County Gates, Westbourne.

Recently after campaigning for over two months, writing to councillors etc, the developers have removed it.

The picture (above right) is how it looked last week before removal.

Thanks to excellent graffiti removal teams in both of our towns, most of it is quickly removed once reported.

There have recently been major attacks on bus stops, all bridges along Wessex Way and road signs to name just a few. Recently, there was an article on Michel Roux (the chef) in the Mail on Sunday. He said in the article that his main “bugbear” was graffiti... he found it disrespectful.

I wrote to him to thank him for the article. I went on to tell him how Paris was now “totally out of control”; the mess, is terrible, it would cost millions to put it right, if that were possible. He wrote back to me agreeing with my comments.

Graffiti can be both offensive and ugly, and can really affect the local area.

It can be described as: ‘the defacement of property, a form of vandalism’ – a crime.

The presence of graffiti adds to an atmosphere of neglect and can increase the fear of crime and reduce perceptions of safety. It can encourage antisocial behavior and further vandalism.

Whether the graffiti is on council or private property, you can report it.

I want to ask the readers please report any graffiti. This can be down through a wonderful website called Fix my Street, fixmystreet.com Graffiti removal is free and very often in our area removed within a week or two of reporting it. It is possible to write also directly to bournemouth.gov.uk With the summer coming up, and visitors arriving, we want to give a good “first impression” of our town.

ESD, name and address supplied, Poole