Hunt on for graffiti vandal after tagging spree
THE hunt is on for graffiti vandal “Test” in a Bristol suburb plagued by tagging. Staple Hill councillor Ian Boulton says the amount of graffiti on Broad Street is “unprecedented”, with scrawls covering shop shutters, fencing and bins.
Many of the tags simply read “Test” - and police are searching for the culprit or group responsible.
Mr Boulton said: “It’s been developing over the last few months, and it’s mainly that one tag - ‘Test.’”
During one recent walk, the Labour councillor spotted 11 tags in a stretch of around 200 metres between Broad Street’s Tesco Metro and Page Park.
Test is also active in Eastville and Kingswood, according to social media reports. Mr Boulton says he has received reports of Test graffiti in Emersons Green, Downend and Fishponds.
He said: “Over Christmas there was a piece of Test graffiti on the chipboard fence of the Red Lion, a pub which is being done up on Broad Street.
“They came back earlier this month to finish the job, spraying more on the same surface. It seems they’ve found a wall that suits them.
“The police have to be very lucky if they are going to catch the offenders red-handed and therefore they are really dependent on intelligence provided to them by the public.
“I’m not aware of any sightings of the culprits. I don’t know whether people feel it is not a reportable offence, but we need it to be reported so we can understand the scale of the problem.”
Mr Boulton believes the cost of the damage must be running into thousands of pounds.
He is calling on South Gloucestershire Council to waive any charge for removing graffiti from private property in Staple Hill.
“Usually the council is pretty good at getting it removed from public property, but they will take a charge from the owner if they’re doing private property,” he added.
“We are concerned that this charge might be a barrier for property owners to remove the graffiti from their premises, leaving our neighbourhood blighted by this vandalism.
“Mindful of the ‘Broken Window’ theory that leaving damage unrepaired may attract further vandalism, we have asked the council to look at what be done to overcome this hurdle and support the victims of these crimes.”
In a Facebook statement, the Staple Hill neighbourhood policing team outlined the action it is taking on the vandalism.
The post says officers have been carrying out high-visibility and plain-clothes patrols, sharing intelligence across police stations and searching social media to identify offenders.
“We have a close working partnership with the South Glos Council Antisocial Behaviour team and local councillors,” it continues.
“With them, we will be looking to ‘target-harden’ the affected areas.
“We have been working with the local schools, showing images of the graffiti to pupils to see if they can identify offenders by their tags. Also we have given advice on the risks and consequences of causing damage and being dealt with by the police.”
A council spokesman said: “Graffiti is an act of vandalism which is completely unacceptable and blights our local communities.
“There is normally a charge for our StreetCare team to remove graffiti from privately owned properties but we have been in discussions with property owners in Staple Hill about removing some of this without cost, for a short period to get on top of the recent spate of incidents.
“We encourage anyone who has information relating to instances of graffiti in South Gloucestershire to report it to the police, or by calling us on 01454 868000, or by email so it can be investigated.”
If you can offer police any information, contact 101 and quote reference 5220135324.